Dear friends,

We need to talk about homeownership.

The YIMBY movement is working to solve our housing shortage and affordability crisis for both renters looking for an affordable place to live, and would-be homeowners who have been priced out of the California housing market. It's no secret that homeownership provides housing security and the opportunity to build long-term financial stability. It's also one of the primary ways families build generational wealth.

Homeownership was already denied to many Californians, especially BIPOC Californians, for many decades. Now the severe housing shortage has put home ownership out of reach for most Californians. Only 20% of Californians earn enough money to afford a median-priced, traditional single-family home.

California YIMBY is doing something about it. I want to tell you about SB 684, an important bill authored by Sen. Anna Caballero that we're co-sponsoring with the California Community Builders. It already passed the State Senate. We need your help to pass it in the Assembly.

Illustration of residents enjoying new homes in mixed use neighborhood

SB 684 will create new pathways to homeownership for middle-income Californians by making it faster and easier to build smaller, more naturally-affordable "starter" homes near jobs, schools, transit, and other amenities.

The bill streamlines approvals for starter homes in infill developments of 10 homes or less in multi-family zones, and on vacant lots in single-family zones. SB 684 will expedite the process of turning one large or underutilized lot into up to 10 smaller lots, each of which can then accommodate a smaller, more affordable "starter" home.

We used to build starter homes in California. But then we made them illegal to build. Walk around many neighborhoods in California cities, and you'll see them: Dingbats and duplexes, bungalow courts and six-flats –- all built in the era when many more Californians had a shot at owning their own home. But restrictive zoning policies ended that era, and pushed most new starter homes out to remote regions, far from jobs, often in areas vulnerable to wildfire.

These policies were designed in large part to prevent BIPOC Californians from joining in the great wave of homeownership and wealth building during much of the 20th century. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, the homeownership rate for Black Californians is still 26 percent below that of white Californians. For latino Californians, it's almost 20 percent lower.

The shortage of affordable homeownership opportunities ripples through our entire housing crisis.

The lack of available starter homes and other affordable first-time homeownership opportunities has made housing mobility extremely challenging for middle-income earners and growing families. Many Californians who are otherwise ready to purchase a home –- they have savings, good credit scores, and know which neighborhoods they'd live in –- have been forced to remain renters, delaying turnover in the already-limited rental market.

These Californians can afford higher rents than lower-income renters, but they can’t afford to purchase a home in California. So, they're stuck -- and their loss of housing mobility means rental units that used to open up to the next renter are no longer available.

There is a better way. By streamlining approvals for homes in infill developments of 10 homes or less in multi-family zones, and on vacant lots in single-family zones, we can make it easier for middle income Californians, of all backgrounds, to afford to live in neighborhoods that are close to jobs, schools, and other community amenities.

And there's a reason renters should support this bill, too: New homes for first-time homebuyers will help create "vacancy chains." When a household buys a home and moves out of a rental unit, they open up existing rentals. That means that the pathway to affordable homeownership is also a key tool to addressing the overall rental housing shortage.

SB 684 is an important step toward helping more of us achieve our California dream of living in a home we own, close to transit, rather than being locked out of homeownership for the rest of our lives.

Those are some of the reasons why I'm excited to support SB 684. And I hope you are too – we need your help to pass it out of the Assembly.

So, if you want to help make homeownership possible for more Californians, please join me and send a message to your Assemblymember urging them to vote YES on SB 684.

SEND A MESSAGE >>

Gratefully,

Konstantin

Konstantin Hatcher
Senior Director of Community Impact
California YIMBY

California YIMBY is a movement dedicated to ending our state’s housing crisis and building a more inclusive, affordable, and accessible state for ALL Californians. If you were forwarded this email, you can join our movement here. DONATE NOW » Want to keep track of housing issues and the YIMBY movement? Sign up for the HomeWork, our newsletter here.

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