Turn Vacancies into Housing

Tens of thousands of units sit vacant while we largely ignore the single biggest source of potential housing in San Francisco: vacant units.  Fully constructed, ready for residents, but held off the market. Why? And how do we activate them?

On March 16, San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston called for a Budget and Legislative Analyst Report and a hearing at the Board of Supervisors to discuss these questions and more, on the important topic of residential vacancy, co-sponsored by D9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen.

So much of the conversation on housing in this city has been dominated by an exclusive focus on production. It’s the same old talking points — build, build, build. How many new units, how quickly can they be built, how do we incentivize building more. There is a role for new construction, especially of affordable units, but it is not the only way to create housing opportunities.  Supervisor Preston believes that solving our City’s affordable housing crisis must involve tackling residential vacancies, activating as many of these units as possible, and exploring policy solutions to this mushrooming problem and opportunity.

Much of what we know about the current landscape of residential vacancy is based on limited data sets and anecdotal evidence. As policymakers, Supervisor Preston believes we need the most up-to-date information on how, why and where units remain unoccupied in San Francisco, and what we can do about it. That is the aim of the Budget and Legislative Analys report and the hearing, which is scheduled for May.

Stay tuned for more information, and if you would like to get involved, please contact legislative aide Kyle Smeallie at kyle.smeallie@sfgov.org.