By David M. Greenwald
Executive Editor
Sacramento, CA – On Wednesday, The California Housing Partnership released the 2023 housing needs reports for all six Sacramento region counties, including Yolo County, and found, “conditions for low income residents continue to be strained.”
Among the key findings: 55,711 low-income renter households in Sacramento County do not have access to an affordable home. Renters in Placer County need to earn $36.92 per hour—2.4 times the state minimum wage—to afford the average monthly asking rent of $1,920.
Seventy percent of extremely low-income households in El Dorado County are paying more than half of their income on housing costs compared to 3% of moderate-income households.
In Yolo County, they found that, in 2022, “there were only 692 beds available in the interim and permanent housing supply for persons experiencing homelessness.”
The report found, “Renters in Yolo County need to earn $34.11 per hour—2.2 times the state minimum wage—to afford the average monthly asking rent of $1,774.”
Moreover, “9,030 low-income renter households in Yolo County do not have access to an affordable home.”
State and federal funding for housing production and preservation in Yolo County is $75 million, a 339% increase from the year prior.
But, “77% of extremely low-income households in Yolo County are paying more than half of their income on housing costs compared to 2% of moderate-income households.”
The Sacramento Housing Alliance issued recommendations for several of the counties – Sacramento, Yolo, El Dorado and Placer counties.
Sacramento Housing Alliance Affordable Housing Policy Recommendations for Yolo County Jurisdictions:
- Ensure all policies are created and analyzed using a racial equity lens to affirmatively further fair housing. Strategies should be adopted to remedy continuing impacts of historic land use and financing policies that have harmed communities of color. For example, adopt inclusionary policies to promote integration in all new development.
- Expedite development of regulated, affordable rental housing. Home healthcare and childcare workers, janitors and medical assistants cannot afford the average asking rent in Yolo County.
- Monitor and participate in California Financing Coordinating Committee funding fairs and resources to identify infrastructure funding opportunities available from the state and federal governments. Apply for and/or utilize identified resources to support the development of affordable rental and ownership housing in areas of the county where infrastructure capacity has limited new development.
- Incentivize green building for new developments and energy efficiency building and retrofits to reduce housing costs for lower income seniors and families, and to provide health and environmental benefits.
- Proactively identify and support partners to apply for the Manufactured Housing Opportunity & Revitalization Program and monitor the status of the Mobile Home Park Rehabilitation and Resident Ownership Program (MPROP). Adopt strong policies to protect existing park
- Establish or strengthen local housing trust funds. Adequate local funds are critical to effectively compete for state housing funding.
- Identify and promote disaster assistance and mitigation resources for low income renters and homeowners and infrastructure assistance resources.
- Prioritize funding for the development of homes for people experiencing homelessness, including requiring at least 10 percent of all new affordable rental communities be set aside for people experiencing
- Encourage and fund the development of affordable rental homes for agricultural workers. Support applications by nonprofit affordable housing developers or apply directly for state and federal funding. See here and here.
The recommendations must be swiftly implemented not just in Yolo County, but for every other county in the Greater Sacramento Region. People’s lives hang in the balance.