Committee advances affordable housing preservation fund proposal to San Diego City Council

SAN DIEGO (FOX5/KUSI) — San Diego city leaders are moving forward with a plan to preserve affordable housing, warning that without action, thousands of families could be priced out of their homes in the coming years.

On Thursday, the City Council’s Land Use and Housing Committee voted unanimously to advance a proposal to create an Affordable Housing Preservation Fund.

The initiative would combine public dollars with private investment, including philanthropy, to buy existing apartment complexes near jobs, schools, and transit, thereby keeping rents affordable in the long term.

“Hardworking San Diegans deserve rents they can afford in homes that they aren’t at risk of losing,” said Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee, who chairs the committee. “The Affordable Housing Preservation Fund will help us protect one of San Diego’s most precious and valuable resources: affordable homes.”

Councilmember Sean Elo-Rivera, who also serves on the committee, said the fund will help protect families from displacement.

“The Preservation Fund is how San Diego fights back against the loss of affordable homes,” Elo-Rivera said. “While we work to build more housing, this fund will help us protect the homes people already rely on.”

If approved by the full City Council, the San Diego Housing Commission would administer the program, starting with seed money from the city’s Neighborhood Enhancement Fee fund. The fund would support the acquisition of multifamily housing, generate reinvestment income and attract private-sector dollars to expand preservation efforts.

Lisa Jones, president and CEO of the San Diego Housing Commission, said the proposal is a critical step in addressing housing stability.

“This is a crucial step in a strategy to ensure San Diego families can continue to afford a place to live in communities across our city,” Jones said.

Housing advocates say the preservation effort is urgently needed.

More than 13,000 rental homes in San Diego are projected to lose affordability by 2040, including deed-restricted affordable housing and naturally occurring affordable units, according to a commission study. Without intervention, the study found, 35% of new housing construction would merely replace units lost to rising rents.

Stephen Russell, president and CEO of the San Diego Housing Federation, said the stakes are high.

“We know that the loss of affordable housing stock is a primary driver of homelessness in our region,” Russell said. “Even as we build more, there is a critical need to preserve the housing we already have.”

City leaders emphasized that keeping existing housing affordable can often be faster and less expensive than building new units from scratch.

“Together, that funding will be used to acquire and rehabilitate affordable housing units, keeping them available to low-income San Diegans and their families,” Lee said.

Community members echoed that urgency during Thursday’s meeting.

“We are in a cost-of-living crisis,” one speaker said. “Elected officials are not spectators in that fight; you are decision makers, and you have the opportunity to ease the burden working-class people feel in this city.”

The proposed fund builds on the City Council’s adoption earlier this year of an affordable housing preservation law, which gives local government and nonprofits more notice when a property owner intends to sell, offering an opportunity to purchase before rents rise.

The full City Council is expected to take up the Affordable Housing Preservation Fund proposal later this fall.