Affordable Housing

The City does not own or manage rental properties.  Please refer to the Santa Barbara Affordable Housing Resource Guide for a list of local agencies that offer affordable rental housing.

Our office administers an affordable ownership program.  This program serves low, moderate, middle, and upper-middle income households that meet certain criteria. Please refer to the Eligibility Requirements for more details.

If you would like to be added to our notification list, please submit an Interest List form. The Interest List form needs to be re-submitted to our office every six months in order for you to remain on our notification list and it is not a waiting list. There are two ways that you can have an opportunity to purchase an affordable home in our program:

1. The first and primary way is through the resale of an existing unit. Turnover is slow but when an existing owner decides to sell their affordable unit, they can choose someone from the City’s Interest List or they can find their own eligible buyer (even if that person is not on our Interest List). We do not provide the addresses of the units that are available for resale. However, once you are on our Interest List, your contact information can be provided to existing owners that are considering selling their affordable unit.
    
2. The second way to purchase an affordable home in our program is by participating in a lottery for a newly constructed project. Once a lottery application period opens, we will send a notification email to everyone that is on our Interest List at that time.

The affordable ownership units are subject to requirements outlined in the Affordability Covenant and Option to Purchase. This 90-year covenant restricts the price of the units, the buyer’s eligibility requirements, and defines the owner’s responsibilities.

If an affordable owner decides to sell their unit, the City calculates the maximum sale price. The restricted resale price is based on the price paid by the owner adjusted by the percentage change in the Area Median Income during the period in which the owner owned the property and occupied it in compliance with the requirements of the Affordability Covenant and Option to Purchase. There is no assurance that the past rate of Area Median Income increase will continue in the future.

The City has implemented a comprehensive program to encourage the preservation or construction of affordable housing. Santa Barbara's housing program consists of several funding sources and mechanisms to increase the City’s affordable housing supply, including providing financial and/or land use incentives to a developer in exchange for a recorded agreement that some or all of the housing units will remain affordable to a certain income group (for example, "Low-Income" or "Moderate-Income") for a specified number of years.  Please refer to the Affordable Housing Policies and Procedures Manual for more information.

Please refer to the Santa Barbara Affordable Housing Resource Guide for a list of local agencies that offer homeless services and transitional housing.

Mobile homes are a type of housing that is affordable “by design,” as the monthly costs are low compared with other non-deed-restricted housing. For the most part, mobile homes and mobile home parks are governed not by the city, but by state and federal regulations. For more information, including resources for resolving certain disputes between mobile home owners and mobile home-park owners. For more information please visit the State of California Department of Housing and Community Development.