In 2016 the Oakland Housing Cabinet released the Oakland at Home report (aka the “17K/17K Plan”) with recommendations to protect 17,000 low‐income households from displacement and produce 17,000 new homes, including 4,760 restricted affordable homes, by 2024. This report provides an update on the progress towards meeting those goals (as of the end of 2021).
Key highlights 2016‐2021:
-Benefitted 35,565 low‐income households with increased tenant protections, exceeding the initial goal of 17,000 households by 2024.
-Produced 16,770 total housing units, almost reaching the 2024 goal of 17,000 units two years early. Oakland will likely exceed the 2024 goal this year.
-Produced 2,449 restricted affordable housing units. The 2024 goal is 4,760 affordable units. The number of affordable units produced during the past five years is more than three times the number produced during the previous five years (2,410 in 2017‐2021 versus 766 in 2012‐2017). The affordable housing pipeline is robust with 2,927 additional affordable units in the permitting and approval process. While these projects are working through securing entitlements and building permits, the major limiting factor of these units starting construction will be the availability of local funding as well as competitiveness for State funding. If all these units could begin construction by the end of 2023, Oakland would exceed the plan’s goal of 4,760 affordable units.
-Produced more Extremely Low Income (ELI) units than any other category of affordable units, for the first time ever. ELI units are affordable for our most vulnerable residents (earning 30% of Area Median Income or less) and often are occupied by residents exiting homelessness. Oakland produced more than 11 times the number of ELI units during the past three years than was produced during the previous three years (530 in 2019‐2021 versus 47 in 2016‐2018).
-Reduced the number of eviction notices filed with the City. The number of notices dramatically decreased from 10,248 in FY 2014‐15 to 5,268 in FY 2019‐20. The number of notices decreased further to 881 in FY 2020‐21 after the City adopted the COVID‐19 eviction moratorium in March 2020. City law requires the filing of a notice prior to an eviction but not all notices result in an actual eviction.
-Apartment rents continue to fluctuate, decreasing in 2017 and then increasing to a peak in 2019 before decreasing in 2020 at the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic.
-The percentage of rent‐burdened households remains high, with 46% of households citywide considered rent‐burdened in 2014 and the same percentage in 2019 (the most recent year data is available). A household is considered rent‐burdened if it pays more than 30 percent of its gross monthly income on rent. Substantial disparities between racial and ethnic groups exist and persist over time. For example, in 2014, 53% of Black households and 37% of white households were considered rent‐burdened and in 2019, 55% of Black households and 37% of white households were considered rent‐burdened.
Affordable housing production
The creation of affordable housing requires subsidy. Historically, the Oakland Redevelopment Agencyprovided the main source of public subsidy for affordable housing. When California’s redevelopment agencies were eliminated in 2012, Oakland’s funding for affordable housing decreased substantially. The 17K/17K Plan contained a bold set of strategies to dramatically increase funding for affordable housing. Nearly all the strategies have been implemented. Since 2016, funding for affordable housing in Oakland has surged thanks to local funding measures such as Measure KK, the Affordable Housing Impact Fee, County Measure A1 funds, as well as funding from new transformative State programs such as Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities, California Housing Accelerator, and Homekey. The production, preservation, and pipeline of affordable units has grown accordingly. Despite this increase, the City is still falling short of meeting its affordable housing goals as more funding is needed. Increasing the amount of funding available for affordable housing will be critical so the City can meet its housing goals.
What about housing preservation?
The cornerstone of the 17K/17K Plan is the need to both PROTECT residents and PRODUCE housing. The Plan also emphasized important strategies to convert existing unprotected housing to protected affordable housing. This has been a focus of Measure KK investment, as well as extending affordability and rehabilitating existing affordable properties. These strategies are known as PRESERVATION – the third “P” in the “Three 3” approach contained within the City of Oakland Housing and Community Development Department Strategic Action Plan for 2021‐2023 (discussed below). The benefits of housing preservation are two‐fold – it protects existing tenants and creates long‐term, protected affordability in the community. Because of this dual benefit, preservation units may be counted as both protected households and produced units in this Progress Report.
Implementation of housing strategies 2016‐2021:
The 17K/17K Plan identified strategies to protect households from displacement, produce housing at all incomelevels, and increase housing affordability. The City of Oakland has adopted many new housing policies and programs to further the goals of the 17K/17K Plan; nearly all the strategies from the Plan have been implemented. Key policy and program actions are listed below.
Strengthened housing protections with the following new policies:
-Tenant Protection Ordinance – updated various provisions including requirements related to pass‐through costs, exemptions, and petitions
-Just Cause for Eviction Ordinance – expanded eviction protections to units built before 1995 (Measure JJ) and owner‐occupied duplexes and triplexes (Measure Y)
-Oaklander Preference Policy – updated policy to provide preference to Oakland residents (existing and recently displaced) and employees for City‐funded affordable housing and the City’s first‐time homebuyer
mortgage assistance program
-Tenant Relocation Ordinance – updated ordinance to increase and standardize fees paid to evicted tenants
-Tenant Move‐out Ordinance – established requirements for agreements between owners and tenants when tenants agree to voluntarily move out of a unit in exchange for a payment (i.e., “buy‐out” regulations)
-Rent Adjustment Ordinance – expanded rent stabilization to buildings substantially rehabilitated and to owner‐occupied duplexes and triplexes
-Tenant Protection Act (AB 1482, State of California) – instituted statewide eviction protections and limits on rent increases for certain units; expanded protections in Oakland
-Equal Access to Housing Ordinance – prohibited rental property owners from discriminating against tenants receiving government‐issued housing assistance (e.g., Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers)
-Fair Chance to Housing Ordinance – prohibited rental property owners from considering a potential tenant’s criminal history when applying for housing
-Eviction Moratorium – enacted various protections for tenants due to the COVID‐19 pandemic, including a temporary moratorium on evictions and rent increases
Improved housing services with the following new or enhanced programs:
-Rent Adjustment Program – improved online portal and digital record management system, increased tenant and landlord outreach and workshops, streamlined eviction notice tracking and data collection, and moved away from an exclusively complaint‐based system to a more active enforcement model
-Keep Oakland Housed – public‐private partnership launched in 2018 by Mayor Schaaf and the San Francisco Foundation providing homelessness prevention services to 5,944 households in its first three years
-Oakland Housed Secure – City‐funded program providing anti‐displacement services
-Shallow Rent Subsidy Pilot – philanthropic‐funded pilot launched by Mayor Schaaf in November 2021 providing monthly rent subsidies to 200 households to prevent homelessness with an evaluation by the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative
-Housing Justice Initiative – initiative of the Oakland City Attorney to increase education and enforcement of the Tenant Protection Ordinance
-Emergency Rental Assistance Program – program providing State and federal COVID‐19 rental assistance
Additional new funding sources for affordable housing:
-Measure KK affordable housing bond – $100 million 2017‐2022
-Measure A1 affordable housing bond (Alameda County) – $580 million 2017‐2022
-Affordable Housing Impact Fee – $51 million assessed FY 2016‐21, $30 million allocated to projects
-Measure W vacant property tax – $10.3 million projected FY 2019‐22, allocated to homelessness and illegal dumping
New housing and shelter programs:
-Cabin Communities – program providing shelter to residents experiencing homelessness (234 total beds), with significant funding from the Oakland Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce
-Safe RV and Trailer Sites – program providing safe parking for residents living in recreational vehicles and trailers (400 total spaces)
-The Holland – City acquisition of building on West Grand Ave. with funding from Kaiser Permanente for interim transitional housing
-Project Roomkey (Alameda County and State of California) – program providing interim transitional housing in hotels for people who are homeless and at high risk of complications from COVID‐19
-Homekey (State of California) – acquisition of existing buildings for interim transitional housing and permanent affordable housing, including Clifton Hall, Inn at Temescal, Project Reclamation (single‐family homes), Piedmont Place, and Inn by the Coliseum
-Lake Merritt Lodge – FEMA‐funded utilization of existing building for interim transitional housing for people who are homeless and COVID‐vulnerable
-Owner Incentive Program (Oakland Housing Authority) – new incentives to encourage property owners to participate in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program
-Keys to Equity – public‐private partnership launched by Mayor Schaaf and the Chan‐Zuckerberg Initiative to increase access to Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and close the racial wealth gap
Updated planning and building codes and permitting processes:
-Parking regulations – updated off‐street parking regulations to reduce required parking and provide more flexibility
-Transitional and Supportive Housing – updated zoning regulations to allow Transitional and Supportive Housing by right in all zones where residential activities are allowed
-Secondary Units / Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) – updated and streamlined regulations related to Secondary Units and Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
-Shelter Crisis – declared a Shelter Crisis and adopted flexible emergency housing standards pursuant to State law
-Single‐Room Occupancy (SRO) hotels – adopted new regulations to preserve existing SROs
-Seismic Retrofit Ordinance – adopted new regulations requiring structural upgrades to seismically unsafe buildings
-Condo Conversion Ordinance – expanded condo conversion protections to 2‐4 unit buildings citywide
-Construction Innovation and Expanded Housing Options Ordinance – new regulations to promote cost‐effective forms of housing construction and a wider variety of housing types to reduce the cost of housing, including new standards for efficiency dwelling units, modular housing, manufactured housing, alternative building materials, and residential occupancy of tiny homes on wheels and recreational vehicles
What’s next?
Strategic Action Plan 2021‐2023: In 2021 the City of Oakland Housing and Community Development Department released the Strategic Action Plan for 2021‐2023. The Plan builds off the momentum of the 17K/17K Plan to identify and prioritize the top housing strategies for the next two years. The Plan
is available online here.
Infrastructure and Affordable Housing Bond Measure 2022: The City is currently in the planning stages to place a bond measure on the November 2022 ballot to raise revenue for infrastructure and affordable housing. The potential measure is patterned after the successful passage of Measure KK in 2016.
Housing Element 2023‐2031: The City is in the process of updating the Housing Element of the General Plan for 2023‐2031 as required by state law. The Housing Element will identify policy direction to meet the housing needs of the City. More information is available online here.
Bay Area Housing Finance Authority: In 2019 the State passed AB 1487 which established the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) covering the nine‐county San Francisco Bay Area region. BAHFA is a new government entity with the same governing board and staff as the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. AB 1487 provides BAHFA with new tools to fund affordable housing, preserve existing housing, and support tenant protections, and empowers BAHFA with the ability to raise revenue for these activities by placing revenue measures on the regional ballot for voter approval. BAHFA is in the initial planning stages to potentially pursue an Affordable Housing Bond
Measure on the ballot in 2024. If successful, BAHFA could provide substantial funding to Oakland for housing production, preservation, and protection.