\u201cIt underscores a massive slowdown in construction over the past several decades,\u201d said USC research professor Jared Schachner, who co-wrote a Lusk Center for Real Estate study<\/a> on aging affordable housing. \u201cWhen you\u2019re not bringing in a large influx of units, that\u2019s the result: a large share of old buildings with a higher probability of being dilapidated.\u201d<\/p>\n A rental sign on Alameda Avenue in Burbank on Oct. 7, 2026. <\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n As the L.A. area grapples with an affordability crisis<\/a>, local governments have a tightrope to walk. Should they enact policies to preserve crumbling homes and keep rents down? Or should they encourage upgrades to the aging housing stock, bringing in more comfortable and energy-efficient, yet more expensive, properties?<\/p>\n As a metropolis, L.A. is relatively young compared with other urban areas, but its housing stock is old. The average L.A. County home is 58 years old \u2014 11 years older than the California average and 16 years older than the national average.<\/p>\n That\u2019s largely due to a building boom in the 20th century that has since slowed significantly. In the 1950s, more than 70,000 housing units were built in L.A. County. In the 2010s, fewer than 15,000 were added, according to the report.<\/p>\n The USC study focused on<\/a> \u201cnaturally occurring affordable homes\u201d that aren\u2019t subsidized by the government in order to be affordable. In the midst of a housing crisis, when governments have tight budgets and limited power to influence rents, these naturally occurring affordable homes are crucial for lower-income residents.<\/p>\n According to the study, the most affordable apartments tend to be in five- to 19-unit buildings built before 2000. These make up 43% of L.A. County\u2019s multifamily housing stock with five units or more \u2014 a sizable chunk.<\/p>\n \u201cThat segment is a promising place for intervention,\u201d Schachner said. \u201cWhat types of resources need to be provided to ensure they remain affordable?\u201d<\/p>\n Fixing up aging affordable apartments can be part of the solution, but it depends on who\u2019s financing the fixes. The government can subsidize renovations and dictate that rents remain affordable. But private developers and homeowners will want higher rents to offset their investments, especially because construction and labor costs have skyrocketed since the COVID-19 pandemic. <\/p>\n Schachner suggested that local governments should concentrate their efforts on areas with a lot of naturally occurring affordable housing. The Koreatown-Mid-City area, where 62% of rentals are naturally occurring affordable homes, has the highest rate in L.A. County, followed by Hollywood-Studio City at 61% and Burbank-Glendale at 57%, according to the USC study.<\/p>\n \u201cPolicymakers could look to preserve units in these areas because the affordable housing is so densely concentrated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Pueblo del Sol, an affordable housing community in Boyle Heights.<\/p>\n (Allen J. Schaben\/Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n Another approach would be to preserve affordable housing in neighborhoods with the oldest homes, which tend to be in East L.A. and South L.A. According to a 2020 map<\/a> by Abundant Housing L.A., the oldest neighborhoods include Cypress Park, Vermont Square, South Park and Harvard Park, all with average home ages of at least 90 years.<\/p>\n \u201cSolving the housing crisis that has been ignored for decades will not be fixed by one approach \u2014 it will take both preservation and the acceleration of affordable housing,\u201d said Paige Sterling, a spokesperson for Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. \u201cSince taking office, Mayor Bass has cut red tape and eliminated the bureaucratic barriers that have slowed housing production for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n Donovan Rypkema, principal of consulting firm PlaceEconomics, said it\u2019s unrealistic to rely on the private sector, including developers and landlords, to prioritize affordable apartments, because building luxury projects is more profitable. Therefore, he said, governments need to intervene.<\/p>\n \u201cWe tend to think of housing as a private good, but on the affordable side, there\u2019s a public good aspect,\u201d he said. \u201cWaiters, teachers and janitors can\u2019t afford the housing that exists. But the city needs that workforce, so there\u2019s a public benefit to having houses that are affordable to them.\u201d<\/p>\n Rypkema said the region could look to San Antonio\u2019s Under 1 Roof program<\/a>, which provides low- to moderate-income homeowners with one-time grants of up to $19,000 to fix worn or damaged roofs. Local governments could enact similar programs to help landlords fix up run-down rentals and keep them from being replaced with more expensive housing.<\/p>\n An Encino building on Oct. 7, 2026.<\/p>\n (Myung J. Chun \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s tricky to invest public resources in private homes, but what\u2019s the cost if we don\u2019t?\u201d Rypkema said. \u201cHouses fall apart, and developers tear them down.\u201d<\/p>\n He added that preservation should be the top priority. To address the affordability crisis, the region needs new homes, but not at the expense of the ones it already has, because new construction won\u2019t command cheap rents, he said. <\/p>\n Another possible option? Build our way to affordability.<\/p>\n Azeen Khanmalek, executive director of the nonprofit YIMBY (\u201cyes in my backyard\u201d) group Abundant Housing L.A., said the city\u2019s problem is that 75% of its residential land is zoned for single-family homes<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re limiting the map of where new housing is able to be built, so there\u2019s more economic pressure on neighborhoods like Echo Park and Silver Lake that have aging affordable housing stock,\u201d Khanmalek said. \u201cAn easy way to reduce that development pressure is to expand the map of where we can build new dense housing.\u201d<\/p>\n New laws such as state Senate Bill 79, which increases zoning density near transit stops statewide, could be key to building that housing. L.A. delayed SB 79\u2019s implementation<\/a> until 2030, but as part of that delay is allowing projects of up to 16 units in 55 single-family zones throughout the city.<\/p>\n As for the private sector, Khanmalek said many small landlords are being pushed underwater by deferred maintenance costs, with some selling to larger companies that have the money for repairs. Smaller-scale landlords tend to be more flexible with tenants on issues such as late rent, data show<\/a>, so the city should award grants or subsidies to help those landlords keep their properties habitable, Khanmalek said.<\/p>\n But ultimately, he argues, building new homes will help stabilize the market.<\/p>\n \u201cIf we have an adequate supply of new housing, it\u2019s not as desperate of a situation when old properties get to a place where they need to be torn down,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The city of L.A. is on a tight budget, but it does have a relatively new tool to help save affordable apartments: Measure ULA. The so-called mansion tax, levied on high-end property sales, has raised<\/a> more than $1.4 billion for affordable housing initiatives since 2023, including the preservation of at-risk apartments. <\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1792753570_931_.jpeg\")
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