City Misses Low Income Family Housing Goal by 57%

So far the city has produced less than half of its target units for a nine-year housing project which is set to end this year.

Housing and Career Services Director William Huang has released a memorandum on the updates for the city’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment project.

The data showed that the department completed 43 percent of its project goals for the period 2006-2014.

Only 217 units were produced of the 711 target units for extremely low and very low income families; 142 of the 452 for low income; and 353 of the 491 for moderate income, according to the data from the department.

The reason for the unmet targets are the “unprecedented decline in funding for affordable housing with the dissolution of redevelopment, the nearly 50 percent reduction in federal HOME funds,”  and the Great Recession “which brought the production of affordable units under Pasadena’s inclusionary ordinance to a grinding halt,” Huang said in the memorandum.

“Please keep in mind very few jurisdictions meet their goals and very few cities have goals as high as Pasadena’s,” he said.

Huang added the data “do not represent the total affordable housing production picture as they do not count home ownership rehabilitation projects,” such as the Haskett Court which produced six low and moderate income units, and the Herkimer Gardens which has four low income units.

The housing director also cited the department’s project HOUSED, which he said placed 55 of the most chronically homeless persons in permanent housing facilities.

The housing department has cut its goals for the 2014-2021 period from the previous one, now targeting only 340 units for extremely low and very low income, 207 for low income, 224 for moderate income, and 561 for above moderate income families.

Despite its lower targets, Huang said the goals for 2014-2021 period will be hard to meet “given the lack of funding for affordable housing.”

For the above-moderate income families the department has produced 4,000 units although the target for the 2006-2014 period was only 1,215.