New statewide law limits rent increases

New statewide law limits rent increases

A lot of conversation in Sonoma Valley about housing affordability focuses on building more homes that are lower-cost. We also need to preserve existing lower-cost rental housing, so that our neighbors--teachers, nonprofit workers, cooks, singles, young families--don't get pushed out of Sonoma Valley by steep rent increases.

Now California has passed AB 1482, a statewide law that limits rent increases to inflation plus 5% per year. The law also contains just-cause eviction provisions.

This is a major win for anyone who rents, enabled by an unusual alliance of interests across housing production, preservation, and protection, including developers and tenant advocates.

In a recent Beyond Chron article, Randy Shaw of San Francisco’s Tenderloin Housing Clinic, states, "I was thrilled to see the Bay Area Council, Tech Equity Collaborative, California YIMBY and other production-oriented groups prioritize enacting statewide rent caps and just cause eviction laws...This support completely changed the traditional political dynamics for tenant legislation in Sacramento."

Earlier this year, we shared a tenant perspective and a landlord perspective on this topic.

Over the next 6 months, Sustainable Sonoma will engage multiple housing experts to determine which strategies -- undertaken by local governments, community organizations, and companies -- are most likely to succeed in transforming Sonoma Valley's housing situation.

Sonoma Valley Housing Declaration on KRCB Public Media

Earlier this month, Sustainable Sonoma's Program Director, Caitlin Cornwall, spoke on KRBC about the Sonoma Valley Housing Declaration, drafted by the Sustainable Sonoma Council to "galvanize local commitment to creating affordable and livable housing in Sonoma Valley". Listen to the whole clip, starting minute 2:00.