Affordable Housing

“Among the most basic of human needs is a place to call home. And nowhere in the United States is this need harder to satisfy than in California. The lack of affordable housing is so severe that it threatens the health and welfare of thousands of Californians, as well as the state’s long term prosperity.”
    -The Little Hoover Commission, independent state oversight agency

California is in the midst of an affordable housing crisis. The price of housing has skyrocketed, leaving millions of the state’s low-income families, seniors and farm workers unable to afford market-rate housing. The scarcity of affordable housing opportunities makes it difficult for working families to live in California. Thus, more than 6.4 million Californians have incomes below 125 percent of the poverty line,  and are in need of affordable shelter.

In “Locked Out 2004,” the California Budget Project found the household income for low-income renters and renters with children fell from 1989 to 2002 after adjusting for inflation.   In most of the state, a full-time job paying minimum wage is not enough to afford a one-bedroom apartment. And the problem of affordable housing is worse for Californians receiving public assistance.  A dramatic increase in prices has made the American dream of homeownership out of reach for most Californians. “Locked Out” ranks California 46th in the nation in terms of good homeownership rates. 

Affordable housing developers, who provide safe, habitable and high-quality living opportunities to those most in need, are a solution to this problem. California’s affordable housing industry is very sophisticated and recognized as a national leader by lending, regulatory and investor institutions. California’s nonprofit housing developers need support from the government and private sector in their efforts to house residents most in need, and to revitalize communities with stable housing and jobs.

CRC supports the development of affordable housing opportunities by negotiating with lenders and backing policies that promote and/or create lending products for affordable housing development; low-cost home-mortgage loans for low-income borrowers and borrowers-of-color seeking to attain or maintain homeownership; investments in Community Development Corporations and Community Development Financial Institutions that support affordable housing opportunities; and access to insurance for affordable housing developers and homeowners who need insurance to get a loan.