Get your questions answered

+ What causes our population to grow?

Growth is mostly due to our children growing up, moving out of their childhood homes and into the housing market. All the young adults graduating from high school or college will soon be moving out on their own, often with roommates and need housing.

People are also living longer, which is great news, but can also mean the amount of available housing is lower than it might be in the past. Other reasons for our growth are we have a strong economy, which can mean more people moving here for work, and we have more single-person households than in the past.

+ What is a RHNA/General Plan/Housing Element?

• Housing Elements are one part of the General Plan, which guides all the ways each jurisdiction is planned and managed, from our roads and sidewalks to our parks and neighborhoods. With an update required every eight years by the State of California, this Housing Element update will create a plan for the types and number of homes needed by 2031.

• To figure out how many a jurisdiction needs, the state first looks at several factors like how many jobs there are, how close people live to their place of work, and how many new jobs and new people we are expecting. After doing this, they assign each region a number called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation or RHNA (pronounced ‘ree-nah’).

• It is then up to the region, and in our case the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), to decide how much each city is responsible for based on their size and how they are expected to grow by 2050, according to Plan Bay Area. Almost all cities in the Bay Area have a significantly higher target this RHNA cycle than in the past.

• Once we know our responsibility, cities have to develop a plan to meet or exceed this number in their Housing Element to comply with state law. There are big consequences to jurisdictions that don’t do this. This can include paying monthly fines and fees, being disqualified from state grants, and having a court issue an order for mandated compliance, removing the ability of a jurisdiction to make land-use decisions, requiring the inclusion of affordable units and/or enforcing a moratorium on all permits.

+ What does affordability mean?

When we talk about affordable housing, we mean housing that is moderately priced for low or moderate income residents, so that new families and the workforce can buy or rent in the communities they work in and love. But what exactly does it mean to be affordable? And affordable to whom?

To be considered low or moderate income in the Bay Area means a very different thing than in most parts of the country because the income gap – the difference between the highest and lowest wages – is so wide in our region. Affordable housing here can mean that your favorite hairstylist, your child’s teacher, or the friendly medical assistant at your doctor’s office has access to below market housing so they can live close to their work.

The starting point for this calculation is the Area Median Income (AMI), the midpoint household income in a specific region, meaning half of households make more and half of households make less. Moderate income is 80 to 120 percent of the AMI, low income is 50 to 80 percent AMI and very low income is 30 to 50 percent AMI. The rule of thumb is households should expect to pay about a third of their income on housing. So what does this look like in San Mateo County?

• Moderate Income: $146,350 to $179,500 for a family of four, $117,100 to $143,600 for a family of two
• Low Income: $91,350 to $146,349 for a family of four, $73,100 to $117,099 for a family of two
• Very Low Income: $54,800 to $91,350 for a family of four, $43,850 to $73,099 for a family of two

So let's apply this. A medical assistant and a preschool teacher in San Mateo County with two children would be in need of affordable housing with their combined average salaries of close to $90,000 a year. A year’s worth of rent would swallow up at least 30% of their income, making them rent burdened. Consider a single-earner who heads a household of four and works as a daycare administrator with an average yearly income of about $55,000. To afford rent in San Mateo County, around 80% of their income would be directed towards housing costs.

(Note: AMI assuming median income for San Mateo County from HCD.gov. Average market rent data from Apartments.com using Daly City as proxy. Wage information from California Economic Development Department, first quarter 2020.

+ Who runs/builds affordable housing?

Most affordable housing is built and managed by private and nonprofit developers using a variety of funding and financing sources. Its much more challenging to fund and complete affordable housing developments than market rate developments.

+ What does overcrowding mean?

Overcrowding occurs when the number of people living in a household is greater than the home was designed to hold. There are several different standards for defining overcrowding, but the U.S. Census Bureau defines it as more than one occupant per room (not including bathrooms or kitchens). Additionally, the Census Bureau considers units with more than 1.5 occupants per room to be severely overcrowded.

+ Who qualifies for affordable housing?

Affordable housing programs are generally for those who earn 80% or below the AMI, which for San Mateo County is $146,600 a year for a household of four ad $117,100 for a household of two.

+ Who lives in affordable housing?

Seniors, families with children, people facing health challenges, people with disabilities, or those who simply are starting a new phase of life – in short, people of all backgrounds.

+ What does affordable housing look like?

Affordable housing includes a wide range of styles, types and sizes, including duplexes, triplexes, quadplexes, townhomes, granny units or ADUs, cottage clusters, and low-rise (3-4 story), midsize (5-6 story) and large (7+ stories) multifamily buildings. Affordable housing must comply with the same zoning codes, restrictions, and design standards as market-rate housing. Often, because affordable housing projects rely on some public money, they have to comply with additional restrictions and higher standards than market-rate housing.

+ I’ve heard affordable housing makes traffic worse, is that true?

Affordable housing residents tend to own fewer cars and drive less because many affordable housing developments are located near transit. Local governments can also adopt policies that encourage affordable housing developments near job centers so affordable housing can actually help reduce traffic.