With residential development stalling and demand for affordable housing still unmet, San Francisco is reevaluating its decades-old inclusionary zoning policy.
So far this year San Francisco has had 1,161 units completed, putting the city on pace to see fewer than 3,000 new homes. Compare that to 2021 when 4,649 units came online. Meanwhile, there are 4,100 units under construction, compared to the high of 10,000 units that were being built in 2016 or 2017,
J.K. Dineen, San Francisco Chronicle
Inclusionary zoning requires developers to include affordable units in multifamily housing projects. Critics say that the additional cost of these units makes them economically unfeasible. Now San Francisco is reconvening a technical advisory committee to review the practice.
Last fall, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed dozens of pieces of legislation to combat the state’s ongoing housing crisis. One of the new laws bans single-family zoning, which had long blocked the construction of accessory dwelling units and of multifamily apartments and condominiums.