Oakland is in the middle of a housing affordability crisis. Skyrocketing house prices and rental rates have pushed many out of their homes and out of Oakland. To help address the issue, Oakland is planning to introduce a mechanism that has worked for other Bay Area cities.
SF Gate reported that the city council has approved the proposal, with a 7-1 vote, on imposing impact fees on new housing developments. This measure has been used by other cities in the Bay Area in order to generate fund for affordable housing, as well as transportation and infrastructure.
According to the report of the publication, house builders will this year be charged impact fees amounting between $750 and $7,000 per market-rate unit. In the next four years, the rate will increase between $13,000 and $24,000 per unit.
The impact fee is hoped to encourage house developers to include affordable housing units in their new developments, otherwise, they will pay the fees that will go to the government's own affordable housing projects.
While many consider the move to be a good one, there are those who are not satisfied with the amount the city council has come up with. They say that the fees are too low compared to neighboring cities which charge as much as $28,000 per market-rate unit.
Oakland city council has also recently approved a 90-day moratorium on evictions and rental rate increases, The Guardian reported. With the moratorium in place, landlords cannot illegally evict tenants or immediately raise rental rates above 1.7 percent per year.
Citing a recent Zumper National Rent Report, The Guardian noted that rents for one-bedroom apartments have risen to 14 percent in the past year while two-bedroom units have seen rents increase by 18.3 percent. The city government aims to use the three-month period to look for a more permanent solution to the housing issue.
