On February 3, 2025, the San Diego City Council unanimously approved the Affordable Housing Preservation Ordinance, aiming to prevent the conversion of affordable homes into market-rate or luxury units. This ordinance mandates that property owners intending to sell deed-restricted affordable housing must notify the city, regardless of any expiration dates on affordability restrictions. The goal is to provide tenants with more notice and grant the city additional time to make offers on such properties. Council President Pro Tem Kent Lee said:
There is a hole in San Diego’s affordable housing bucket. No matter how much we do, we are losing existing affordable homes faster than we can replace them with new ones. This new law gives the city and San Diego Housing Commission the power to work with property owners to find ways to keep units affordable, before they revert to market rate costs that many people cannot afford.
Councilwoman Vivian Moreno, who proposed the law, emphasized its importance in maintaining housing built with public funds. Council President Joe LaCava highlighted the ordinance’s role in sustaining San Diego as a livable city by preserving existing affordable housing.
