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Progressive Los Angeles Network

Housing Priorities for Los Angeles

Picture a City where all residents can find a safe, affordable place to live. Where low and middle-income workers like nursing aides, truck drivers, garment workers, elementary school teachers, electrical engineers, and police officers can afford to rent a quality apartment or buy a house in LA, not settle for slum housing or be forced into long commutes outside the City. Where the number of homeless drop as the amount of affordable housing rises. To make this vision a reality, the City of Los Angeles needs to boost the availability of affordable housing and guarantee safe housing for all tenants. The following priority actions will strengthen our communities and economy, and make Los Angeles a more liveable city for all its inhabitants. 

1. Boost the Housing Trust Fund. The City should dedicate $100 million annually to its Housing Trust Fund to finance affordable housing programs to help low and middle income residents rent and own homes. The City should consider a number of funding sources, including a linked fee on new non-residential development, a portion of the City hotel tax, and a portion of increases in property tax receipts. 

2. Require developers to build affordable housing units in all new residential developments. The City should adopt an inclusionary zoning policy to require builders to make at least 15 percent of units in all new residential developments affordable to low and middle income residents. Developers could only opt out of this requirement if they pay into the housing trust fund the difference between the affordable housing price and their units’ price. 

3. Crack down on slum landlords. To transform unsafe, crowded, and substandard housing units into decent, affordable housing, the City needs to expose slumlords, enforce safe housing laws, and empower tenants. The City should require registration by owners of all rental properties to give tenants, regulators, and the public the name and business address of the real owners of apartment buildings. The City should also promote state receivership legislation to allow Cities to transfer control of housing that violate safety rules from slumlords to community groups and non-profit housing organizations. Further, the City should advocate for creation of a Housing Court to focus on these problems.

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