Support housing for middle income households.
A strong middle class is important to the economic and cultural longevity of our city. However, historically, the City has not made enough investments in supporting the middle class. In the Blueprint, we encouraged the City to change its Below Market Rate (BMR) Program to increase income limits to serve middle-income households earning up to 120% of the Area Median Income (AMI) for both homeownership and rentals. Currently, the BMR Program is limited to serving those at 90-100% of AMI or below ($97,100 for family of four) and the rental program is geared toward residents earning up to 55% of AMI ($53,400 for a family of four). We also encouraged a change to expand the City’s Downpayment Assistance Loan Program (DALP) to cover higher income limits and offer increased amounts of downpayment assistance.
When the opportunity came to address this issue through the Mayor’s proposed Affordable Housing Bond, to be before voters this November, our office advocated strongly for increased allocations to serve middle-income households. Through our advocacy, we believe that the Affordable Housing Bond, if passed by voters, will serve a broader community than as it was originally proposed. Most notably, $80 million of the $310 million bond measure will go towards middle-income housing, with:
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An expansion to the Downpayment Assistance Loan Program (DALP) – those households earning up to 175% of AMI would be able to qualify as part of the program;
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An expansion of the Teacher Next Door Program (a downpayment assistance loan program for educators) – teachers in households earning up to 200% of AMI would be able to qualify for the program; and
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Support for the Middle-Income Rental Program to better serve families needing two- or three-bedroom units and those households earning between 80-150% of AMI.
Our office is proud to have played a key role in ensuring that our City’s middle-income households are part of our investments, and we will continue to advocate for additional resources to better support middle-income individuals and families.
For more on the proposed Affordable Housing Bond Measure, visit: http://sfgov2.org/ftp/uploadedfiles/elections/candidates/Nov2015/AffordableHousing_Text.pdf