San Diego officials today rolled out an $8.5 million Affordable Housing Preservation Fund, a new pool of money meant to keep existing rental homes affordable across the city. The fund is designed to give the city and its housing agency a way to buy or otherwise preserve at-risk apartments before private investors convert them to market-rate units.
The San Diego Housing Commission would create and run the fund if the full City Council signs off, city leaders said at the announcement. Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee and Councilmembers Sean Elo‑Rivera and Vivian Moreno joined SDHC President and CEO Lisa Jones, who urged tenants and small property owners to come forward if they need help preserving affordability, according to the San Diego Housing Commission.
The $8.5 million would come from Neighborhood Enhancement Fee revenues collected from developers and earmarked for preservation. The city's Office of the Independent Budget Analyst reports that NEF funds restricted to affordable-housing preservation totaled $8.5 million as of the end of March, and NBC San Diego reported the launch today.
How the Fund Would Work
San Diego's preservation law gives the city the right of first offer and refusal when eligible affordable properties go up for sale. That means the fund could help SDHC or nonprofit partners acquire at-risk buildings before private buyers move in. Hoodline previously reported that the City Council had adopted a new preservation ordinance creating those rights, giving tenants and the city a better chance to step in when properties change hands.
Scale of the Risk
SDHC estimates that more than 13,000 homes in San Diego are at risk of losing affordability by 2040 – roughly 4,200 deed-restricted units and about 9,250 naturally occurring affordable units – a gap the agency says the fund is intended to blunt. Officials framed the preservation fund as a first step to “fight back against the loss of affordable homes” and said the city will seek private-sector and philanthropic partners to expand the effort, according to the San Diego Housing Commission.
What Happens Next
The proposal now heads to the full City Council for approval and requires an agreement to transfer NEF dollars from the City to SDHC before the money can be spent. The Office of the Independent Budget Analyst notes that the transfer mechanism is still pending, even though the Council set aside funds in the FY2026 budget, and a formal agreement and council action are expected in the coming weeks, according to the IBA report.
