Reports and Publications

State of Housing in Sonoma County

The State of Housing in Sonoma County report is a comprehensive report, over 60 pages, covers, among other things, housing stock and cost, density, land use, homebuilding, population shifts and demographic breakdowns of housing cost burden and overcrowding.

This report aims to educate the public, community leaders, and policy-makers so that we can make informed, evidence-based decisions on policy, projects, and funding as we address our housing shortage.

Solving our housing dilemmas has positive ripple effects. The availability of safe, stable, and affordable housing for our community members is a critical driver for individual economic opportunity, better educational performance, and improved health outcomes. The future economic vitality and resilience of our county is jeopardized if young workers, students, and families cannot stay or cannot live in a healthy way because of housing cost burden. Investment in housing production is a powerful economic engine and job creator. Well-planned affordable housing is a boon for the environment — decreasing our carbon footprint and preserving our open space.

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How Much Housing Do We Need?

Sonoma County’s Housing Shortfall and Future Need

Sonoma County’s housing affordability has been a barrier for thousands of local households who have struggled to make rent or purchase a home over the last two decades. Despite homebuilding peaking in the middle of the 1980’s with nearly 6,000 homes annually, homebuilding rates in the last twenty years have plummeted as median rents and home prices skyrocketed, and fewer homes were affordable to fewer households. This report answers two questions: 1) how much housing did we need but didn’t build in the last 20 years, and 2) how much housing do we still need to meet future growth?

Our current housing need is based on what we should have built in the past, and what we need to build for the future.

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58,000 Homes: The Roadmap Part 1

Overview

To address Sonoma County’s housing crisis, we need at least 58,000 new homes by 2030. To meet that goal, Generation Housing believes we must change where and how new housing gets built. Our prevailing pattern over the past fifty years—single-family homes at the edges of existing cities—is not sustainable in the face of climate change, wildfires, and public demand for more walkable neighborhoods. Instead, we need more multifamily housing in already built-up areas.

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Making the Rent: Examining the Scale of the Rent Shortfall in Sonoma County Due to COVID-19

Author: Jesús Guzmán
July 2020

Overview

For the last few months, the federal CARES Act has offered relief to those who lost their jobs due to COVID-19 by offering enhanced benefits. Despite many still being unable or ineligible to receive benefits, the enhanced benefits have been a lifeline allowing many to pay their bills But the benefits expire at the end of July with Sonoma County renters and rental housing providers facing uncertainty and significant need.

1 in 5 Sonoma County workers filed an initial claim for unemployment insurance after the shelter-in-place order was implemented and through the late May reopening. Hospitality, restaurant, and retail workers, who on average receive lower wages, were amongst the hardest hit.

Economic forecasts suggest that California may begin to see jobs return in Q4. With a 25 percent jobs return, Sonoma County renters and housing providers may see two scenarios: A) $4.7 million monthly rent shortfall if enhanced benefits are extended, or B) $17 million rent shortfall if benefits go away. Assuming a scenario in which the enhanced benefits are extended, Sonoma County could support impacted households for the next 6 months with a $28 million rental assistance fund.

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