August 22, 2018


New reports from the California Housing Partnership reveal that lower income renters in the San Joaquin Valley are spending 57-63% of their income on rent and that the production of housing affordable to lower income households declined by 55% during the 2016-2017 period in anticipation of federal tax reform. The reports also show 8-16% increases in homelessness in Stanislaus County and Tulare County respectively since 2016.
 
In addition to documenting the housing emergency facing low-income renters in San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Tulare Counties, the new reports offer policy solutions developed in collaboration with the California Coalition for Rural Housing for state and local leaders to consider.
 
"These reports emphasize the urgency that voters pass Proposition 1, the Veterans and Affordable Housing bond, and Proposition 2, the No Place Like Home initiative, so that communities in the San Joaquin Valley have more resources to address these huge challenges," said Matt Schwartz, President and CEO of the California Housing Partnership.
 
"It is critical that state and local elected officials adopt the policy recommendations contained in these reports in order to reverse these shocking trends," said Rob Wiener, Executive Director of the California Coalition for Rural Housing.
 
"The California Housing Partnership report underscores the need for increased financial resources in our community to address the housing crisis affecting not only San Joaquin County but the entire state," said San Joaquin County Supervisor Kathy Miller . 
 
"The data contained in these reports shows that low-income renters in the San Joaquin Valley are facing an affordable housing emergency. We must make housing affordable for all of our residents by implementing these policy recommendations," said Tom Collishaw, President and CEO of Self-Help Enterprises.
  • State policy recommendations common to all three reports can be found here.
  • San Joaquin County policy recommendations include creating a local housing trust fund.
  • Stanislaus County policy recommendations include streamlining the use of existing fee reductions and waivers and promoting new fee reduction programs for affordable housing developments.
  • Tulare County policy recommendations include updating the affordable housing Density Bonus ordinance in all cities and the county.