California assigns Ballot #10 to Affordable Housing Act

The legislation seeks to expand rent control throughout the state

By Paolo Taruc

02 Jul 2018

During the midterm elections next November, Californians will also get to decide on legislation that provides for the expansion of rent control in their state. California Secretary of State Alex Padilla has announced that the Affordable Housing Act has been assigned to Ballot #10 during the upcoming polls.

This comes after supporters of the bill gathered in April over 595,000 signatures across the state’s 58 counties to qualify the measure. Padilla certified the measure on June 15.

The state’s current rent-control policy falls under the Costa–Hawkins Rental Housing Act of 1995. Cities can only implement rent control on certain residential units built before 1995, or the year rent control was established in a city – such as 1978 for Los Angeles. Cities are not allowed to cap rent on new construction. This means the number units under rent-control could dwindle, as old homes are demolished to make way for new ones. The Affordable Housing Act effectively repeals the current legislation.

“Millions of California residents are struggling to afford rent and make ends meet and just can’t wait any longer to take back the power to address the housing affordability crisis in their own communities,” said Christina Livingston, executive director of the Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment (ACCE Action). “The time is up for rent gouging by corporate landlords abetted by Costa-Hawkins, the ill-conceived California state law favoring heartless greed. Come November, voters can return power to expand rent control in their own local communities and give millions of Californians a chance to stay in their homes.”

However, the California Association of Realtors (CAR) believes now is not the time enact rent control. “[M]andating artificial prices for rental units won't fix the state's housing supply and affordability crisis. It only reduces the supply of rental properties and creates an economic hardship for low-income and disadvantaged families," CAR President Steve White said last April.

Citing figures from Zumper, CAR said San Francisco's current median home price is $1.6m, and the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment is $3,400. In Los Angeles, those numbers are $529,000 and $2,250, respectively.