SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) --
ABC7 has learned that the San Francisco Housing Authority has stopped
taking applications from residents who want to live in public housing.
The SFHA will close its waiting list at the end of January.
Currently, there are close to 30,000 people waiting to get
into public housing. The city manages a little over 6,000 public
housing units for low income family, seniors and disabled.
The
Housing Authority says "on average, a family waits approximately 10
years to move from the bottom of the list to the top." An official told
ABC7 the economic climate and a decrease in federal funding contributed
to a slowdown in new units.
Sara Shortt, executive director of
the Housing Rights Committee of San Francisco, says she understands why
the Housing Authority stopped the waiting list but adds, "they still
really need to provide some way of the really poor and needy to gain
access to public housing."
Shortt suggests a preference
program for such residents and also says the city should review and
purge those applicants on the waiting list "whose economic and housing
status changed during their long wait."
The city closed its
waiting list for Section 8 housing in 2000 when it reached almost
30,000. Section 8 housing provides vouchers for low-income tenants to
move into private apartments under contract with the city.
Vic Lee will have more on this story tonight on ABC7 News at 6 p.m.