Policy: Preservation
Preservation is one of the “3 Ps of affordable housing” but is often left out of the conversation when discussing housing in Marin. The California Housing Partnership Corporation released a paper doing a deep dive into this topic: “Preserving affordability, preventing displacement”, we recommend reading this for more context on this form of housing. There are thousands of units and homes in Marin that fall into the Preservation category.
Public housing (496 homes in Marin)
Public housing is owned by the government. The Marin Housing Authority manages and maintains our public housing developments. Golden Gate Village is the largest public housing development in Marin. Marin needs funding to renovate this 60 year old project. (The State no longer builds public housing).
Deed-restricted housing (2,800 homes in Marin)
Most affordable housing built today is created via deed-restricted, privately owned developments. Developers are given development subsidies (often tax credits) so that the finished housing can be rented or sold at below market rates. These deed restrictions expire after a set number of years (typically 55 years). To keep these homes affordable, additional funding is needed to extend the deed restrictions.
Unsubsidized affordable housing (9,500 homes in Marin)
Almost 10,000 lower income Marin households live in unsubsidized, non-deed restricted housing. These homes are affordable either because the landlords have not raised rents as quickly as the market or because the amenities and condition of the homes place these at the low end of the rental market. The California Housing Partnership estimates that half of these almost 10,000 units are at risk of becoming unaffordable in the next 5 years. There are programs to preserve these units as affordable housing units through the conversion of market-rate units to deed-restricted units. These programs require funding as owners typically require compensation for agreeing to forgo future income. These deals are complicated and nuanced as many times these properties have significant deferred maintenance that must be funded.
Privately owned homes/units
There are a number of low income people living in housing they own. Typically, these are older owners who have owned their home for many years but are on a fixed income. These owners often need assistance maintaining their properties.