RES 90196 - Laserfiche WebLink

For the period 1988 through 1995, the City already has exceeded its goal for the provision of its share of regional needs for moderate income housing, has built 78% of its share of above moderate income housing, and 71% of its share of low income housing. There have been only 80 units or 11% approved for very low income housing because of the difficulty of building housing which sells for less than $78,350 or rents for less than $550 per month, as is true throughout California. The City has made a concerted effort to meet the needs of very low and low income households through City subsidy of the 200 unit Ridgeview Commons project. The City of Pleasanton, in cooperation with a local non- profit housing corporation, recently built a 200-unit housing project for the elderly, 120 of which are reserved for low and 80 for very low income households. The City donated the land for the project (valued at $3 million), invested $900,000 in predevelopment costs from the City's low income housing fund, issued tax exempt bonds, and is leasing the project to a non-profit housing corporation to facilitate the provision of low and very low income housing. Housing Element Policies 7, 8, and 9 contain specific objectives for addressing regional housing needs for all economic segments of the community. Housinq Aff0rdabilit¥ Housing affordability refers to the financial ability of a household to rent or buy a housing unit. Government agencies, lenders and landlords generally consider a household eligible to rent or buy if monthly payments do not exceed 30% of total household income. Given this guideline, the monthly rent or mortgage rate which can be afforded is easy to calculate although ownership costs will vary with interest rates, down payments and the type of financing instrument. Using recent rates, the amount of income needed to rent or buy can be calculated for various income groups. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) defines household income groups and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) calculates income relative to the area median for these groups. As of 1990, the four economic groups earned incomes within the ranges shown in Table IV-7. Using these definitions, Pleasanton's population in 1980 consisted of 63% above moderate, 17% moderate, 9% low and 11% very low income households. ABAG determined what percent of each income group was paying more than 30% of total household income for housing costs and applied these percentages to the 1990 population. City-wide, 55% of lower income owners and 75% of lower income renters were considered to be overp&ying for housing, as shown in Table IV-8. Most cities in California have similar imbalances between housing costs and household income. IV-10