Brandon RodriguezSan Francisco voters approved a $300 million bond package that will help the city meet state requirements to build more than 46,000 affordable homes in the next eight years.
Proposition A, which needed a two-thirds majority to pass, will provide $240 million for new projects. Another $30 million will help preserve and rehabilitate existing affordable housing, while another $30 million will help house victims and survivors of trafficking and domestic abuse. The measure passed with 70% of the vote.
“San Francisco has a state mandate to build over 46,000 new affordable housing units in the next eight years, but lacks a state or federal funding source for development and construction,” Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin said in a statement. “This $300 million affordable housing bond is our ongoing local commitment to making the city safer and more affordable – without raising property taxes.
Proposition A will also support San Francisco’s Housing Element program, which has a goal of building 82,000 homes in eight years. Adopted in 2023, the program is San Francisco’s first housing plan centered on racial and social equity, according to the planning department.
“Local affordable housing funding is critical and one solution to addressing our broader housing needs in San Francisco,” said San Francisco Mayor, London Breed in a news release.
In 2019, San Francisco voters approved a $600 million housing bond, the largest in the city’s history. The bond supported 1,610 new affordable homes and the rehabilitation of around 1,000 public housing units, according to the city.
