Housing & Homelessness
Overview:
San Diego has a housing and homelessness crisis. Rents are rising, while wages remain stagnant, and when people can’t make ends meet and don’t have support networks to care for them, they often lose their homes. We need to build more housing for people of all income levels in a way that’s thoughtfully planned for our communities. To address housing insecurity and homelessness, we should implement a coordinated and dedicated plan that gives people the resources and tools they need to find and sustain housing.
Supporting San Diego’s Housing Market:
San Diego’s population is growing at a far greater rate than its housing supply. The San Diego region needs at least 13,500 new homes each year to keep pace with the demand for housing. In 2021, only 4,095 new building permits were authorized, falling grossly short. Additionally, housing costs in San Diego remain 115.6% above the national average. Scott is working to incentivize more housing development as well as efforts to improve access to homeownership by:
- Introducing the Build More Housing Near Transit Act, which would encourage the construction of low and middle-income housing in transit-served, walkable locations.
- Writing an op-ed in the San Diego Union-Tribune highlighting the need to modify CEQA to create vibrant, transit-rich neighborhoods.
- Supporting the 2022 funding bill, which provided record investments for housing and homelessness, including:
- Over $45 billion in rental assistance vouchers, expanding access for 12,000 low-income families.
- $3.6 billion for homeless assistance grants, which distribute funding to local communities and includes $75 million to build new permanent supportive housing.
- Co-leading the Affordable and Homeless Housing Incentives Act, which would help tackle the affordable housing shortage in California by offering a tax incentive to those who sell their property to nonprofits or public agencies for the purpose of creating affordable housing.
- Calling on Navy leaders to prioritize affordable housing in the redevelopment of Naval Base Point Loma’s Old Town Campus (OTC)
Expanding Access to Benefits and Care
It is essential to provide supportive services for individuals experiencing homelessness as they work to find permanent housing. Scott is dedicated to improving access to these services by:
- Introducing the Fair Housing Improvement Act, which would ban source of income discrimination in housing nation-wide.
- Securing $33,008,616 in FY22 for the City of San Diego and the County of San Diego’s Continuum of Care Program, which provides funding to the local government to quickly rehouse those at risk of homelessness and promotes access to vital programs.
- Leading the $107 million Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program request which funds innovative partnerships to help youth experiencing homelessness.
- Securing $1,500,000 for the City of San Diego to convert a publicly owned office space into a 45-bed homeless shelter.
- Introducing the Rent Relief Act, which would provide a refundable tax credit to individuals who spend more than 30% of their income on rent.
- Introducing and passing into law the bipartisan Veteran HOUSE Act, to expand eligibility for HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) vouchers for veterans who have other-than-honorable discharges. Veterans with OTH discharges currently cannot obtain housing vouchers since they cannot use the supportive services from the VA as required by the HUD-VASH program.
More on Housing & Homelessness
June 2019
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 6/12/19 | Reps. Peters, Herrera Beutler Introduce Affordable Housing Task Force Legislation |
May 2019
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 5/1/19 | Rep. Peters Introduces Two Bills to Address Veteran Homelessness |
October 2018
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 10/3/18 | Reps. Peters, Katko, Takano, Coffman Introduce Bipartisan ‘Homes for Our Heroes Act’ to Provide Insight about Homeless Veterans |
August 2018
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 8/14/18 | Rep. Peters Introduces Rent Assistance Bill to Address High Housing Costs |
July 2018
| Date | Title |
|---|---|
| 7/12/18 | Rep. Peters Announces $7.94 Million Grant Awarded to Regional Task Force on the Homeless |