Countywide : Board Gets Update on Affordable Housing

More than 2,000 units of affordable housing--ranging from single-room-occupancy hotels to apartments for senior citizens--have been built or scheduled for construction over the past two years, according to a new county report.

Many of the units were financed at least in part with money from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and constructed in private-public partnerships, county officials said. The goal is to provide decent housing to individuals and families who can’t afford market-rate rents.

The county was required under federal regulations to prepare the report, which was presented to the Board of Supervisors at its meeting this week. It covers all affordable-housing projects in county unincorporated areas and in cities with populations of less than 50,000. Larger cities handle their own affordable-housing programs.

Tom Watford, manager of housing program services for the county, said the 2,300 units listed in the report include dwellings for disabled people and single mothers, new detached homes and facilities at homeless shelters.

More than 275 units of affordable apartments were recently built in Mission Viejo and Aliso Viejo, Watford said. Some existing apartment buildings in La Habra and Placentia were rehabilitated and used for affordable housing as well.

In order to quality for many types of affordable housing, residents must earn no more than half the county median income. A family of four, for example, would need to earn $28,000 a year or less to qualify.