Affordable Housing Now
We’ve lived in Berkeley for over a decade and something has definitely changed. Not until we read the Anti Eviction Mapping Project Report that the Rent Board commissioned did we understand. A homogenization has occurred: more affluent white people have moved in and low wealth Indigenous, Black and people of color have been displaced. This is counter to what Berkeley stands for and what the city has tried to create with its equity initiatives.
According to the report, between 2005 and 2019, the median gross rent paid (including estimated cost of utilities) increased by over 50%. Concurrently, households earning $200k/year or more increased by 124%. In contrast, households earning less than $75k/year decreased by 23%. Simultaneously, Black residents — who are primarily renter households — decreased by 21%. The study also reveals that Berkeley has lost many rent controlled units due to the high turnover rate. The average tenancy is less than one year because of the boom in the short term rental market. Landlords prefer short term rentals as this allows them to continuously increase rental rates as the market rate keeps rising.
It’s a chicken and egg thing: which came first, the higher income tenants or the rental rates? Neither. The housing market crashed in 2007. The banks were bailed out by taxpayers. Then, LLC’s — which hide the identity of the actual owners — came in and purchased huge amounts of housing loans that were underwater. This dramatically accelerated the corporatization of our housing stock. Finally, rents were jacked up by these corporate owners.
There are other forces affecting the market rate increase, as well. The report shows that over 75% of the lowest income households occupy more expensive housing than they can afford because of the dearth of affordable units. As the area median income (AMI) keeps rising due the influx of wealthy residents, this causes the market rate to increase. This results in further displacement of the now lowest income earners. We must stop this madness in order to maintain the diversity we so cherish in Berkeley, as well as to preserve our community from this unrelenting push out.
Thankfully, the report provides recommendations that would reverse this housing rollercoaster that is careening out of control and affecting many people’s lives. Here are some of them:
- Adopt anti-speculation measures by encouraging community ownership (i.e. TOPA, land trust, etc)
- Protect vulnerable areas where displacement is most likely
- Mandate racial impact studies before rezoning
- Adopt anti-displacement measures by mandating one-to-one replacement of protected units
- Right to return policy for longtime residents who have been forced out of Berkeley
- Rent relief for low income tenants
- Implement a vacancy tax
- Enforce short term rental regulations
And, most importantly we must immediately stop building market rate units and build only affordable housing to undo the damage that has befallen so many lives. Behind every displacement number lies a unique human story. We must demand the reversal of these trends from our elected officials. We must demand all of these recommendations be implemented now.
This article was first published in the Berkeley Times on April 14, 2022.
