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The San Francisco Housing Authority, under pressure from the Board of Supes, has finally moved to take advantage of a federal program that will allow it to create and rehab approximately 750 low-income housing units, specifically ones for “seniors, families, and formerly homeless households.”
These units would be created through a new funding program called Faircloth-to-RAD, which was debuted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development back in 2021. Faircloth-to-RAD does not fund the creation or rehabilitation of units, but instead streamlines the process of applying to change public housing into Section 8 housing, creating a quicker way to get subsidized units into the city.
However, these 750 units are the lower end of what SF could accomplish with this program. More than 3,600 new and existing units in San Francisco could be subsidized, but only if SFHA applies for them.
In April, the supes unanimously passed a resolution by Sup. Dean Preston calling on SFHA to release a call for interested developers for the housing program. While the Faircloth program has been around for the past three years, HUD will be closing applications in September, leaving San Francisco little time to get these units approved.
Preston partnered with the National Housing Law Project back in 2022 to push for the Faircloth-to-RAD project.
“The Faircloth to RAD program can help San Francisco create more deeply affordable housing,” said Deborah Thrope, deputy director of the National Housing Law Project. “San Francisco, like other high-cost cities across our state, can and should seize this valuable and urgent opportunity to ensure that quality, low-rent housing is available to families who need it the most.”
