Affordable housing is unaffordable
Specifically, I will be writing about the funding of affordable housing via the taxation of market rate housing and how that affects housing prices. It's true that in some instances, affordable housing funds come from the general fund which is funded via other taxes, but that kind of goes beyond the scope of this blog. For the purposes of this post, when I say "affordable housing", I specifically mean a price controlled unit sold lower than market value, and not innovative market rate housing like tiny homes or creative uses of space in a condo. There are generally two ways developers may provide affordable housing: Provide below market rate units within the development. Occasionally, this will come with perks like density bonuses, but many times, it's just mandated by the city that the developer must provide a certain percentage. Pay an in-lieu fee to the city, which varies by city. For an example of the first method, we go to a sprawling city in the East Bay...