{"id":399976,"date":"2026-07-15T23:32:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T23:32:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/399976\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T23:32:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T23:32:37","slug":"sf-supes-reduce-affordable-housing-requirement-as-costs-continue-to-stall-new-construction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/399976\/","title":{"rendered":"SF Supes Reduce Affordable Housing Requirement as Costs Continue to Stall New Construction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Board of Supervisors voted to lower the inclusionary housing requirement for new market-rate projects, with supporters arguing it will help encourage development while acknowledging that high costs and financing challenges are still keeping many projects from moving forward.<\/p>\n

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted 9-2 Tuesday to lower the citywide affordable housing requirement from 15% to 5%, as Mission Local reports<\/a>. The ordinance is part of a broader charter amendment that was also approved Tuesday.<\/p>\n

As SFist reported<\/a> previously, the amendment, which was introduced by Supervisor Myrna Melgar and Mayor Daniel Lurie in May, would create a dedicated affordable housing fund that\u2019s expected to generate up to $125 million annually if voters approve the measure in November. <\/p>\n

According to Mission Local, Supervisor Jackie Fielder negotiated an amendment limiting the reduction of inclusionary housing in the Mission District to 8% instead of 5%, arguing that the neighborhood’s long history of displacement warranted stronger affordability protections.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have lost 12,000 Latino families since 2000,\u201d said Fielder at a recent meeting, per 48 Hills<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fielder’s amendment passed by a 6-5 vote with Supervisors Matt Dorsey, Alan Wong, Stephen Sherrill, Danny Sauter, and Rafael Mandelman voting against it. Supervisor Connie Chan reportedly told the board her approval of the primary charter amendment was dependent on Fielder\u2019s amendment also being passed. <\/p>\n

Critics have questioned whether lowering the requirement will actually lead to more construction. Earlier this month, 48 Hills reported that city officials acknowledged inclusionary housing requirements are not what’s making projects financially unworkable today. <\/p>\n

A recent city analysis by Jacob Bintliff, the economic recovery director at the Mayor\u2019s Office of Housing and Economic Development, reportedly found that no housing projects are currently financially feasible, even without affordability requirements. <\/p>\n

Per Mission Local, an April memo from Controller Greg Wagner similarly found that rising construction costs, high interest rates, and financing challenges are the main factors slowing new housing construction, adding that any percentage of affordable housing would hinder development. <\/p>\n

48 Hills speculated that if conditions improve, developers could profit off state and local incentives without necessarily addressing the city\u2019s affordable housing shortage, noting that developers are also competing with the rapid expansion of AI-related data centers as more investment capital flows toward infrastructure projects rather than housing.<\/p>\n

The lower inclusionary rates will remain in place for three years, as the previous rates did, per Mission Local. Supervisor Melgar called the change temporary, saying she expects the requirements to increase again once economic conditions improve, continuing the city’s longstanding practice of adjusting the rates based on the housing market.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn three years when our economy recovers, when we no longer have a Republican president making everything more expensive in our country, the rate will go back up,\u201d Melgar said. \u201cI have every expectation that the inclusionary rate will be reset higher by a future body of the Board of Supervisors.\u201d <\/p>\n

Previously: SF Mayor, Supervisors Announce Proposal to Double Funding For Affordable Housing<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Board of Supervisors voted to lower the inclusionary housing requirement for new market-rate projects, with supporters arguing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":399977,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[101,103,102,104,106,105],"class_list":["post-399976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-headlines","tag-san-francisco-news","tag-sf","tag-sf-headlines","tag-sf-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=399976"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399976\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399977"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=399976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=399976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=399976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}