San Diego Housing Commission

Established in 1979, the San Diego Housing Commission ( SDHC ) is an award-winning public agency dedicated to preserving and increasing affordable housing within the City of San Diego. Since 1981, the Commission has contributed more than $1 billion in loans and bond financing to projects that produced more than 20, 600 housing units of which 12, 662 are affordable. We provide a variety of programs and services that in the past year helped about 76, 000 San Diegans The Housing Commission's Rental Assistance Department administers the Housing Choice Voucher Program ( Section 8 ) funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which annually provides rent subsidies for about 38, 000 people in the City of San Diego. Under this program families, senior citizens and individuals with disabilities pay no more than 30 percent of their income on rent. It's worth noting that the voucher program, currently funded by $173.9 annually in HUD money, has been the Housing Commission's largest single program since its existence. San Diego's Housing Commission is one of the few public housing agencies in the nation to have opted out of the federal government's public housing program and assumed full ownership of most of the multi-family properties formerly controlled jointly with the federal government. By doing so, the Commission gained more autonomy and flexibility to own and manage more than 1, 800 affordable rental units that are leased to low-income families, seniors, and the disabled. Having recently generated capital funds by refinancing the agency's properties, the Housing Commission's Real Estate Department is in acquisition mode. Their goal is to buy and rehabilitate multi-family properties for conversion to affordable housing. The department also oversees programs that assist first-time homebuyers and low-income homeowners whose properties need rehabilitation.