Housing policies and programs are the strategies and laws that cities and counties legally have at their disposal to produce more and preserve existing affordable housing, as well as protect existing residents from getting displaced from their homes and communities.
Local housing policies and programs, as part of a housing element, have significant impacts on a city or county reaching its affordable housing goals. Each additional housing policy has a significant impact on the residents who are most in need of affordable housing. However, the number of policies or programs that a jurisdiction includes in their housing element is not meant to imply how well a city or county is addressing local housing needs since the quality and impact of each will need to be determined as well. Policies and programs listed here from jurisdictions’ Housing Elements are intended to allow readers to review the text themselves and see if a city or county is doing all they can to reach their affordable housing goals.
To further policy innovation and local action, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) contacted all of the region's jurisdictions to track the adoption of key housing policies throughout the nine county Bay Area in four major categories Protect, Preserve, Produce, and Prevent.The policies that follow are ones adopted by this jurisdiction from the full list that ABAG has tracked. This city’s data has been updated for 2023 because it is one of the Partnership for the Bay’s Future partner jurisdictions.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development tracks all of the ongoing and completed programs from 2018 onward and can be seen in the table below.
YEAR | PROGRAM NAME | PROGRAM OBJECTIVE | STATUS | ACCOMPLISHED DATE | HOUSING CYCLE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Berkeley Housing Authority | Provided housing assistance for low-income residents | The BHA provides housing assistance to residents. BHA provides rental assistance to a total of 2,245 units through the Section 8 and Moderate Rehabilitation Program. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Problem Properties Task Force (Team) | Address safety concerns at vacant/blighted properties. | The City continues to activate the PPTF on an as-needed basis for properties with safety concerns. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Project Review Outreach Efforts | Actively solicit input from Berkeley residents on proposed projects. | Information about all major projects continued to be provided at projects sites. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Rent Stabilization and Tenant Protections | Rent stabilization and good cause for eviction for Berkeley tenants. | In 2022, the Rent Board continued educational counseling and support for landlords and tenants. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing code compliance and the Rental Housing Safety Program (RHSP) | Maintain safe housing stock. | In 2022, Housing Code Enforcement/the Rental Housing Safety Program opened 157 new reactive (complaint driven) and 1081 proactive cases, for a total of 1238 new cases. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Boards and Commissions | Facilitate citizen input in City decisions | The City held over 100 public meetings in 2022 on topics such as development projects, affordable housing and zoning ordinance amendments. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | HHSP: Shelter Plus Care | Provide supportive housing for homeless households. | In 2022, the City provided Shelter+Care vouchers to 290 new households to access permanent housing. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Reasonable Accommodation Ordinance | Process reasonable accommodation requests efficiently. | Reasonable accommodations continue to be available. Planning reviews and approves reasonable accommodation requests either as standalone requests or as a component of a larger project. Two reasonable accommodation requests were received in 2022 and both were approved. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Home Modifications for Accessibility and Safety (Rebuilding Together and CIL) | Provide home modification for accessibility. | In 2022, COVID-19 continues to have an impact on small construction sites (e.g. contractor availability, issues with supply chain, etc.) which resulted in fewer health and safety housing rehabilitation and ADA improved accessibility repair projects being completed. In CY2022, Habitat for Humanity East Bay/Silicon Valley completed eight housing rehabilitation projects, Rebuilding Together East Bay-North completed 12 housing rehabilitation projects, Senior & Disabled Rehabilitation (Home) Loan Program completed two housing rehabilitation projects, and the Center for Independent Living completed 9 ADA improved accessibility repair projects. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | HHSP: Homeless Housing Locations | Provide emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent supportive housing programs | As of 2022, the City provided 289 (184)* year-round shelter beds, 64 non-congregate beds, 31 seasonal shelter beds, 22 (16)* TAY transitional housing beds, 48 (16)* family units, 641 permanent supportive housing units, including 290 permanent supportive housing units through HUD Shelter Plus Care grants, 260 site-based units, and 91 HUD Mainstream vouchers for Non-Elderly and Disabled (NED) individuals. *Numbers in parentheses are the reduced number of beds in 2022 due to COVID-19 pandemic | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Senior and Disabled Home Improvement Loan Program | Assist senior and disabled HHs preserve their housing. | In 2022, no loans were issued to rehabilitate and preserve housing via the City's Senior and Disabled (Home) Rehabilitation Loan Program because the program was at full capacity. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | HHSP: Community Agency Contracting | Provide support services to homeless individuals and families. | Community agency contracting for HHSP related programs totaled $30,671,933 in 2022. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Preserving Units at Risk of Conversion to Market Rate | Preserve affordable housing units at risk of converting to market rate. | The 2015 Housing Element identified only one project at higher risk of conversion, Rosewood Manor. That development is still owned by a mission-oriented nonprofit organization and managed by an expert nonprofit property manager, with no indication of intent to convert. The City executed a loan agreement in 2022 for Rosewood Manor, and entered into a regulatory agreement that will preserve affordability for fifty-five years. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | HHSP: Priority Home Partnership (PHP) Program | Provide a county-wide prevention and rapid rehousing program. | In 2022, 170 households were served with rapid rehousing financial assistance. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | HHSP: Relocation Services | Provide tenants and owner relocation counseling. | In 2022, 21 tenants and 6 property owners received assistance. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Trust Fund | Develop and preserve long-term BMR housing. | In 2022, the City executed contracts for $29M in development funds for two new construction affordable housing developments, $12.3M for two acquisition and rehabilitation affordable projects, and $3.5M for the rehabilitation of two affordable projects. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Seismic Preparedness Programs | Improve the safety of housing through seismic retrofits. | At the end of 2022, for the soft story program, 275 retrofits have been completed and 28 retrofits are still required by our Mandatory Retrofit Ordinance. Through the Retrofit Grants program, nearly $2.5 million in grant funding has been provided to Berkeley property owners, including 60 design grants and 72 construction grants. Of 593 URM properties identified, 4 URM buildings remain to be retrofitted. During 2022, 24 homes in Berkeley completed voluntary seismic retrofits and received rebates through the Earthquake Brace and Bolt program. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Energy Conservation Opportunities and Programs | Promote energy efficiency in new and existing construction. | In 2022, 142 Berkeley homes received cash rebates totaling $166,625 for 342 energy efficiency and electrification measures through the BayREN Home+ Program, saving 5,386 therms of gas. Also in 2022, 798 homes had energy assessments during property sales and 283 large and medium buildings completed energy benchmarking to comply with Berkeley's Building Emissions Savings Ordinance (BESO). Newly constructed buildings became subject to Berkeley's Natural Gas Prohibition (BMC Chapter 12.80) and reach code (BMC Chapter 19.36) on January 1, 2020. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Tool Lending Library | Assist Berkeley residents with the preservation of the City's housing stock. | The new TTL branch opened in May 2013 with more space for an increased tool inventory. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Demolition Controls and Unit Replacement Requirement | Maintain the number of housing units in Berkeley. | Amendments to the Demolition Ordinance were actively considered by the 4x4 Committee (which includes members of City Council and the Rent Stabilization Board) and by the Planning Commission in 2020 through 2022. Changes in State Law (SB 330) and case law have added to the complexity of this project. It is currently under consideration for further amendment based on evolving policy. | Ongoing | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |