San Diego City council declares housing a human right, discusses further tenant protections
San Diego City council held a special meeting Monday where they unanimously declared housing as a human right.
It comes as San Diego, for the first time, recorded more newly homeless residents than those that are being rehoused.
“This is important for us as a city to make this commitment to the residents of San Diego amidst our housing and homelessness crisis, and we will do what it takes to meet the moment,” San Diego City Council President Sean Elo-Rivera said. “Everyone has a stake in this issue.”
There was also a workshop for stronger tenant protections that took place at the meeting.
ACCE San Diego and Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans had members that spoke about the current state of the city’s Tenants' Right to Know Ordinance.
“Stronger tenant protections are a requirement for many of our families to remain in their homes,” PANA’s Asma Abdi said.
There was significant push back against the new proposal from landlord groups, including concerns about overall tenant safety and construction of new housing.
“The ramification of the draft policies, while some portions are legally questionable — are going to be destructive to more quality housing being built and being renovated,” F&F Properties founder Dan Feder said.
Even though rent is starting to go down, the compounding effect of inflation has many people’s finances stretched thin.
“Every day our families in San Diego who love to live here — and want to remain here — are facing evictions, facing housing instability,” Abdi said.
Fifty percent of households in the City of San Diego are housing cost-burdened.
The city needs to build over 100,000 housing units by 2029 to meet its current and projected needs, with nearly 45,000 units being for low-income earners.
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