San Francisco housing policies under state review

California’s Division of Housing and Group Growth will launch a first-of-its-kind assessment into San Francisco’s housing insurance policies, saying on Tuesday that the town is “the slowest jurisdiction within the state to maneuver housing initiatives to building.”

• The goal of the assessment, the division stated, is “figuring out and eradicating obstacles to approval and building of recent housing.”

Why it issues: For years, San Francisco has lagged behind different main U.S. cities in the case of new housing building.

• A Chronicle report from earlier this month discovered that between 2015 and 2021, San Francisco authorized 2,861 new housing models per 100,000 residents.
• Throughout that very same time interval, Austin authorized 10,313 models per 100,000 residents, whereas Seattle authorized 9,839 models.

What they’re saying: “We’re deeply involved about processes and political decision-making in San Francisco that delay and impede the creation of housing and wish to perceive why that is the case,” California HCD director Gustavo Velasquez stated.

Catch up fast: Information of the assessment comes sooner or later after the housing division informed metropolis officers that its housing aspect — the plan required by the state to construct over 82,000 models between 2023 and 2030 — wanted a number of revisions, together with extra particular timelines tied to “meant actions … [and] individuals outcomes.”

• Town is legally obligated to have an “adopted, compliant housing aspect” by Jan. 31, 2023, the Chronicle notes.

State Sen. Scott Wiener, who final week referred to as San Francisco’s housing system “rotten to the core,” applauded Tuesday’s motion.

• “The times of SF & different cities flouting state housing legal guidelines are over,” Wiener tweeted. “Accountability is right here.”