San Francisco, CA – Today Mayor London N. Breed released an update on her Housing for All plan, highlighting the successes of the first year of the plan and targeting the next immediate steps for allowing more housing to be built in San Francisco.
Mayor Breed’s Housing for All plan was released in February 2023 through an Executive Directive. The plan has focused in three key areas:
- Changing housing laws to remove barriers to construction
- Reforming bureaucratic systems to speed up permitting
- Supporting funding and construction of affordable housing
While there has been positive progress, more work remains to keep San Francisco moving forward, including rejecting efforts to obstruct new housing from being built in neighborhoods.
In the first year of Housing for All,
- To remove barriers to housing, Mayor Breed has changed laws to unlock the housing pipeline, reduce housing fees, streamline housing approvals, and support Downtown through Office-to-Residential conversions, including the passage of Proposition C to waive the transfer for tax for these projects.
- To speed up City permitting, the Mayor’s Office worked with City Departments to create the One City Action Plan, which is being put in place now.
- To support progress for affordable housing, Mayor Breed has worked to change state laws to create new funding tools, passed a housing bond, and convened affordable housing leaders to develop long-term recommendations for local, state, and federal funding solutions.
“Housing for All is about doing the hard and necessary work to make it easier to create the new homes San Francisco so badly needs,” said Mayor Breed. “If we want to be a City that families can afford to live in, where workers can be near their jobs, where seniors and young people can find safe, affordable places to live, then we need to completely change our approach to housing. We have made real progress this first year, but there is much more work to do to deliver real and lasting change to make San Francisco a city for all.”
Looking ahead, the Mayor will focus on next steps to support her Housing for All agenda, including:
- Refining the Rezoning Proposal to Better Deliver Housing
- In her Housing for All Executive Directive, Mayor Breed called on the Planning Department to present a draft Citywide rezoning proposal for her review in 2024.
- Mayor Breed has reviewed this draft proposal and is now asking the Planning Department for revisions that prioritize mid-rise housing in more locations adjacent to high-capacity transit corridors and major institutions, while also revisiting the extent of certain height increases on corridors.
- Removing Arbitrary Density Limits
- Mayor Breed introduced legislation with Supervisor Myrna Melgar nine months ago that removes arbitrary density limits on commercial corridors across San Francisco without changing height limits.
- The Board of Supervisors has held hearings on this legislation but has not yet taken action to approve it. The Board should advance this proposal without further delay.
- Advancing Major Housing Projects
- A large bulk of the City’s housing obligations will come from continuing to deliver major housing projects. Advancing these projects, especially in the current challenging economic climate, require focused work and meeting changing circumstances.
- Mayor Breed has introduced legislation with Supervisor Dorsey to keep the Treasure Island project moving forward into the next phase, which will deliver 1,000 new homes.
- Securing More Affordable Housing Funding
- With the passage of Prop A by the voters in November, San Francisco has $300 million more to fund more affordable housing projects. But the need is far greater and the Mayor is pursuing more opportunities for funding, including on the regional, state, and federal levels.
- Establishing San Francisco as a pro-housing designation under state law. By securing this, the City will secure up to $150 million in affordable housing funds. This legislation is pending at the Board of Supervisors
More details on the One Year Housing for All Update can be found here.
“Mayor Breed continues to lead the way in proposing actual tangible solutions to our housing shortage and putting them into practice,” said Jane Natoli, San Francisco Organizing Director, YIMBY. “We look forward to continuing to work with her to bring more housing of all types throughout San Francisco.”
“We need to prioritize more housing throughout high-opportunity areas,” said Corey Smith, Executive Director, Housing Action Coalition. “This is a strong step in the right direction to ensure the rezoning is as effective as possible in delivering more housing.”
“In the last twelve months, San Francisco has taken on permitting reforms that many of us couldn't have dreamed of several years ago,” said Annie Fryman, Director of Special Projects, SPUR. “I am excited to see the same level of ambition and focus applied this next year for the citywide rezoning."
Housing for All
On February 7, 2023, Mayor London N. Breed launched Housing for All, a strategy to fundamentally change how San Francisco approves and builds housing. Housing for All is the implementing strategy for the recently certified Housing Element, which sets the goals and policies to allow for 82,000 new homes to be built over the next 8 years.
Housing for All consists of administrative reforms, legislative actions, and government accountability actions. More information about Mayor Breed’s plan may be found here: Housing for All Executive Directive.
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