S.F. Supervisors OK Affordable Housing Laws

Tuesday, July 11, 2017
Rachel Swan
San Francisco Chronicle

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved two pieces of legislation intended to keep lower- and middle-class residents in the city, each requiring a hard-won compromise between the board’s moderate and progressive wings.

The first law lays out several proof-of-residency requirements for landlords who evict their tenants, saying they want to occupy a dwelling themselves. The supervisors approved it unanimously on the first reading. It is expected to come back for final passage next week.

The second law requires developers of large properties to make a portion of their units — 18 percent for rentals and 20 percent for condominiums — affordable, dividing them up among low-, moderate- and middle-income families.

On Tuesday, the supervisors added two amendments to the law and passed them on first reading. One mandated that at least 25 percent of all new units have two or three bedrooms, and that 10 percent of those be three bedrooms. The other required that every below-market-rate studio set aside for a higher income tier be inhabited by at least two people.

The law would not apply to large parts of the Mission or Tenderloin, where property owners still have to rent or sell a quarter of their units at below-market-rate prices.

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