This bill would establish the California Housing Authority, an independent state body, and authorize this authority to construct housing and lease it to a mix of household income ranges through an ownership and rental model. The Authority would adjust the rent or mortgage payments so each household would pay no more than 30% of their income on rent or buy a home.

The operation of this Authority is required to be revenue neutral through cross-subsidization — meaning the revenue from the rents paid by moderate and above moderate-income households would subsidize the below-market rate rents paid by low-income households. This borrows best practices from the most successful social housing programs in the world to establish a durable and equitable funding source to house Californians of all income levels across the state, such as those in Singapore and Vienna.

Updates

AB 2053 failed in the Senate Governance and Finance Committee on 6/28/22.

Authors

Lee (D, AD 25)