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Haykun Sina
Professor Karen Rose
English 3
1 December 2021
The Crisis of Unaffordable Housing in California
California, the Golden State, remains one of the most difficult places in America to build
housing. The state can’t seem to build enough houses. This housing crisis has always been a
critical issue that Governor Gavin Newsom has tried to tackle over time. Many big cities in
California such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego are facing a
housing shortage. According to Cal Matters, a nonprofit research and advocacy organization,
California needs between 1.8 to 3.5 million units of housing to meet its shortage of affordable
housing (Tobias 1). This number indicates that the states need serious action to increase the
number of housings units.
The Federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) defines “affordable
housing” as housing on which the occupant is paying no more than 30 percent of gross income
for housing costs, including utilities. But this varies from city to city. The affordable housing
crisis in California is severe, but affordable housing shortages exist nationwide. California ranks
worst in the nation in renter overcrowding with 13 percent of renter households having more
than one person per room, including all people and rooms (living rooms and bedrooms) in each
household (Howle 13). This affordable housing crisis has driven middle-class families out of
ownership and caused low-income families a great burden. Moreover, many full-time students
are also affected by the housing shortages because they can’t afford to rent an apartment with a
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part-time job wage. In brief, high housing costs and the lack of access to affordable housing
affect health, education, and quality of life for lower-income households (Howle 14). The
solution to the problem of affordable housing in California requires a multi-pronged approach.
State governments should consider redesigning single-family homes, and local governments
should limit rent increases. This proposal may not eliminate the housing crisis in California, but
it will help reduce the problem to a smaller scale by allowing low-income residents to afford to
rent a place.
COVID-19 has caused many California residents to be more stressed about their finance.
In the article “How One of California’s Cheapest Cities Became Unaffordable: The Housing
Market is Broken,” Dani Anguiano explores the difficulty that many residents have experienced
during the pandemic because of the lack of affordable housing in Fresno, California. Fresno is
the largest city in the agricultural Central Valley, and it has historically been one of the most
affordable places to live in California. However, rents began to rise dramatically during and after
the pandemic. The author reports that “During Covid, Fresno and Central Valley rents just kept
increasing. Many people were struggling and are still struggling. Landlords keep raising rents
and people have nowhere to go (Anguiano)”. I believe that not only residents in Fresno are
affected by Covid, but many residents throughout the U.S are experiencing great hardship during
Covid. Many got laid off from work, became sick, and even died. Unexpected expenses during
Covid have put more pressure on families already burdened by high housing costs.
Likewise, other residents could not afford to rent an apartment within their range.
Another Fresno resident, Ashley Miranda works at Starbucks to support her two children. She
wants to find a new place that’s safer and quieter for her children. She says, “It used to be easy to
find two bedrooms for around $900 a month, but now those same apartments go for $1500
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(Anguiano)”. Finding a place to stay within the range is already difficult, and tenants need to
spend more on other necessities like utilities, maintenance, and the internet. Additionally, many
full-time students working part-time for minimum wage can relate to Miranda’s problem. Living
in California is very expensive, and it is difficult to find a one-bedroom apartment within
students’ price range. That’s one of the reasons why some students have decided to sleep in their
cars because they can’t afford to rent a place. In brief, the lack of affordable housing affects the
quality of life.
Homelessness is caused by many reasons, but the lack of affordable housing is one of
them. California’s lack of affordable housing has contributed to the homelessness crisis and has
left more than millions of renter households with burdensome housing costs. In his article,
“California’s Housing Agencies: The State Must Overhaul Its Approach to Affordable Housing
Development to Help Relieve Millions of Californians’ Burdensome Housing Costs”, the state
auditor Elaine M. Howle reports that “California is home to 27 percent of the nation’s homeless
population, despite containing only 12 percent of the nation’s overall population” (Howle 15).
The homeless population seems to be increasing hugely every year, and the state needs to put
more action to reduce the homeless population. The author also reports that “the California
Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) determined in 2018 that California
needs to add about 180,000 units of housing annually through 2025 to keep up with housing
demand, which amounts to more than 70,000 units of affordable housing needed annually”
(Howle 11). The housing shortage is servers, and the problem not only affects homeless people,
but it also affects the residents. In short, California needs effective plans to battle the crisis of
unaffordable housing.
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The state government should consider redesigning single-family homes to increase the
number of housings. In an article, “Will Allowing Duplexes and Lot Splits on Parcels Zoned for
Single-Family Increase New Homes? Assessing the Viability of New Housing Supply Under
California’s Senate Bill 9”, the authors explore the potential to expand the supply of housing
under Senate Bill 9. Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, a senator from San Diego, has
introduced Senate Bill 9 (SB 9) that would allow homeowners in most areas in the state to divide
their property into two lots and allow two homes to build on each of those lots. The author
claims that “SB 9 will also allow for the development of new, for-sale homes, either on a newly
subdivided lot or through the conversion of existing single-family homes into multiple units”
(Metcalf 2). Basically, the ability to create duplexes and/or split lots would benefit property
owners by allowing them to rent or even sell the extra units to those who want to become new
homeowners.
Proponents of Senate Bill 9 asserts that the bill would enable the development of more
units on 410,000 single-family parcels, of which only 110,000 parcels would become newly
feasible. Senate Bill 9 also would enable the creation of over 700,000 news homes that would
otherwise not be market feasible. These new homes would give more opportunities for new
homeowners thus reducing the housing shortage. Moreover, the author finds that “Senate Bill 9
would provide a boost in three-and four-unit feasibility, duplexes would be the most dominant
form financially-feasible development” (Metcalf 10). Senate Bill 9 would play an important role
in increasing the number of new housing that the state is struggling to provide.
However, local context may prevent the bill from creating new housing. Senate Bill 9
does not apply to a single-family home in historic districts, rural areas, or fire hazard zones.
Moreover, there are other factors such as small lot sizes and other local regulations that can limit
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the number of new homes built because of this bill. Moreover, the authors also argue that
“Converting a house to a duplex and renting out half may be most profitable for homeowners,
but that will not happen if that homeowner is uninterested in living more closely with others in
what was formerly “their” space or in becoming a landlord or home sellers” (Metcalf 8). It is fair
to conclude that some homeowners may not interested to redevelop their property because they
don’t want to change the character of their neighborhood, or they might not feel comfortable
sharing the same lot with other people.
In addition to redesigning single-family homes under Senate Bill 9, local governments
should consider solving the problem by limiting rent increases in California. In the San Francisco
Bay Area and Los Angeles, the average home costs more than 10 times the average income
according to a report from 2018 by Richard Florida, an American urban studies professor at the
University of Toronto. Moreover, the gap between income growth and housing costs is widening.
According to another report in March 2021, “The median home prices in California were more
than $600,000—nearly 88% higher than the national median of $320,000! Meanwhile, the
median monthly rent for a two-bedroom apartment was almost $1,900—about 55% higher than
the national median of $1,200” (Ramsey 2). High housing costs and a shortage of homes for sale
have prompted more California residents to rent instead of buy, driving up demand for
apartments. Landlords have responded by raising rents, pricing out many poor and moderateincome families.
In a report “Affordable Housing Shortage: Can New Policies Increase the Supply?”, a
prominent writer Christina I. Lyons explores possible solutions to help low-income residents
with housing. Housing activists and some lawmakers in major urban areas such as San Francisco
and Los Angles are pushing for local governments to control the rent on existing tenants. The
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rent control only applies in areas where affordable housing is in short supply. For example,
tenant’s rights groups are pushing to repeal state law, the Costa Hawkins Rental Housing Act,
that bars rent control on units built after 1995 and on single-family homes (Lyons). The act also
allows landlords to increase rents to the market’s rate after a tenant moves out. Housing activists
see this act as harsh for tenants, especially the low-income residents who struggle to make the
end meet. Additionally, Christina Livingston, Executive director of the Alliance of Californians
for Community Empowerments, an advocacy group in six California cities that lobbies for rent
control, reports that “investors who bought and rehabilitated housing during the pandemic are
now hiking rent exorbitantly to get the current tenants out” (Lyons). Measures must be taken to
both stop this type of rent increase and to reverse this trend. Livingston’s group sees rent control
as an immediate way to make housing more affordable. Furthermore, housing activists see shortterm rentals as a disadvantage for residents. The housing activists argue that “investors are
buying entire apartments and condo buildings in cities and then listing all the units on homesharing websites for short-term rentals—daily or weekly. The practice, they complain, reduces
the supply of affordable housing and drives up the prices” (Lyons 14). I agree with the housing
activists that the short-term rental market can play a role in the affordable-housing crisis. For
example, Airbnb, founded in San Francisco in 2008, has become a leading target for local
governments. The company accounts for more than 3 million short-term rental listings in 50,000
cities worldwide (Lyons).
Kevin Zwick, Chief Executive Officer of Housing Trust Silicon Valley, a California
nonprofit that provides loans and grants for affordable housing, also claims that “cities need to
do more to rein in rent increases and reduce evictions” (Lyon). He continues, “I do think a lot
about what it’s like to be someone who rents in the Bay Area, with a huge rent explosion and
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wages not increasing that much” (Lyons). According to Zumper, an online real estate database
company, “The average rent for a 1-bedroom apartment in San Francisco, CA is currently $2,800
in 2021. This is a 6% increase compared to the previous year” (Zumper.com). Zwick is right that
rents are increasing each year, and many low-income residents find it difficult to keep up with
their rents. For example, a household of five including three children with a minimum wage
can’t afford to rent a one-bedroom apartment in many parts of Los Angeles County. They also
need to spend on other necessities like food, transportation, health, and insurance. If they spend
30 percent of their income on rent, this is an example of unaffordable housing. In brief, local
governments need to act to limit rent increase so that low-income residents can afford a place to
stay.
However, many economists argue that rent control can indirectly increase housing costs
for tenants in apartments that are not rent controlled. According to a study by three Stanford
University economists, “San Francisco landlords opted to convert rent-controlled units to other
uses, reducing the overall supply of apartments and causing a citywide rent increase of 5
percent” (Lyons 9). This rent increase may seem like a small fraction, but if landlords throughout
the state continue this practice each year, the rent increase will be higher thus making it hard for
low-income residents to keep up with their rents. Likewise, City Council members in Palo Alto
voted 6-3 in October to reject a proposal that would limit rent control at certain apartments built
before 1955. Then-Mayor Greg Scharff reports that “approving the proposal essentially would
have taken those apartments off the market because existing tenants would have never left”
(Lyons). In other words, when the apartment rent is sitting still without any increment, it would
hurt the value of the apartment in the long run.
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Demand for affordable housing will only increase as the population soars. It is imperative
to note that each solution to the problem has its consequences, but if benefits from the solutions
outweigh the costs, it is worth it for the state to consider the solutions. The number of housing
units needed will continue to grow and could aggravate the population of homelessness. The
victims of this crisis are the poor, low-income residents, and people in segregated areas. It is the
state government’s responsibility to take of their residents because residents’ well-being depicts
the country's economy and prosperity.
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Works Cited
Anguiano, Dani. “How One of California's Cheapest Cities Became Unaffordable: 'The Housing
Market Is Broken'.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 6 Nov. 2021,
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/06/fresno-housing-prices-rent-california.
Howle S, Elaine M. California’s Housing Agencies - California State Auditor.
http://auditor.ca.gov/pdfs/reports/2020-108.pdf.
Lyons, Christina L. “Affordable Housing Shortage: Can New Policies Increase the Supply?” CQ
Researcher, SAGE Publishing, 2 Mar. 2018.
Metcalf, Ben, et al. A Terner Center Report - July 2021 Will Allowing Duplexes ... Terner Center
for Housing Innovation for UC Berkeley, July 2021, https://ternercenter.berkeley.edu/wpcontent/uploads/2021/07/SB-9-Brief-July-2021-Final.pdf.
Ramsey Solutions. “Cost of Living in California.” Ramsey Solutions, Ramsey Solutions, 3 Dec.
2021, https://www.ramseysolutions.com/real-estate/cost-of-living-in-california.
Tobias, Manuela. “Victorious in Recall, Newsom Refocuses on California Housing Crisis.”
CalMatters, 20 Sept. 2021, https://calmatters.org/housing/2021/09/california-housingcrisis-newsom-signs-bills/.
Zumper. “Average Rent in San Francisco, CA and Cost Information.” Zumper,
https://www.zumper.com/rent-research/san-francisco-ca.