Inflation rates vary for different regions, depending on their consumer price index . In most counties , rent increases will be capped for the next year at 8.8%, including in a few Bay Area counties, such as San Francisco and Alameda. In other places, rents can go higher: Some Los Angeles County residents could see their rent climb by 8.9%, while rent for those in San Bernardino could rise by 9.3%.
There are a handful of exceptions. Tenants living in newer buildings, for example, or some single-family homes may see higher rent increases. Affordable housing units that received government subsidies were also exempt when the law first passed, but in April a state committee closed that loophole , and imposed rent caps for certain low-income housing.
Some cities also set their own rent restrictions, such as Los Angeles , which can supersede the statewide cap.
Similar to last year, inflation rates are below 5%, meaning rent caps across the state remain less than 10%. But there was one exception in 2023: In San Diego County, inflation was 5.3%, resulting in a 10% rent cap.
The law sought to help curb the state’s soaring housing costs — an issue that’s still a major concern for residents today. According to a June poll by the Public Policy Institute of California , 36% of California adults surveyed said that the cost of living, economy and inflation are the state’s most pressing issues.
Some potential beneficiaries of higher rents are public pension funds, including the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, reports the Los Angeles Times . It found that public pension systems are putting billions of dollars into real estate investment funds that are buying up apartments across the country and that promise big returns.
At 133 California properties bought by funds with California pension investments, over the eight years ending in 2022, the rent increased by an average of 7.7 percentage points more than in buildings in surrounding neighborhoods, according to the Times analysis.
So is there anything that can be done to keep housing affordable? One possible solution is the growing popularity of community land trusts — nonprofits that buy land and sell or rent the buildings on top of that land to low-income residents, reports CalMatters’ Felicia Mello .
Since 2014, the number of community land trusts has tripled . In the pricey Mission neighborhood in San Francisco, tenants in the six-unit Queen Anne building known as Pigeon Palace pay $1,500 to $2,800 a month in rent. That’s because the San Francisco Community Land Trust helped place the winning $3 million bid on the building, then rented the units back to the existing tenants.
Keith Hennessy , a Pigeon Palace resident of 22 years: “We shifted from being renters in a market where someone could buy our building any day, to where no one’s coming to buy our building.”
Donations now matched, dollar-for-dollar: As our anniversary drive comes to a close, we’re excited to enter our 10th year of advancing California together . There’s no better time to give, because thanks to one of our board members, your tax-deductible donation today will be matched dollar-for-dollar. Please give .
The Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating Station in the Mojave Desert in San Bernardino County, on Aug. 30, 2019. Photo By Bill Clark, CQ Roll Call via AP Photo
CalMatters climate reporter Alejandro Lazo and environmental reporter Julie Cart obtained drafts of the five energy measures that legislators and the governor are negotiating with environmental and industry groups, lobbyists and other stakeholders.
The bills seek to overhaul how the state approves and supports solar, offshore wind and other green energy projects by offering developers incentives, such as tax credits, and by streamlining permitting and environmental reviews. The current review to build offshore wind facilities, for example, takes more than 10 years according to the California Energy Commission .
Senate Democratic leader Mike McGuire , in a statement to CalMatters: “We can all agree that California has serious energy needs. This is why the Senate will be embarking on a two-year effort to modernize our grid, expand the number of large-scale green energy plants and storage facilities in California, and kick a modernized permitting process into high gear.”
Earlier this year, the state’s public utilities commission approved a controversial new rate structure that includes a fixed charge based on income. The Legislature is currently considering a bill that would direct state officials to establish an “ affordability metric ” for future rate increases.
A corridor maintained and paved by Kern County firefighters winds up through the wilderness on Jan. 12, 2022. Photo by Julie Leopo for CalMatters
In May, concertgoers at a music festival in Kern County danced and celebrated on soil containing spores from the fungus that causes Valley fever. Since then, a handful of people fell ill, and three had to be hospitalized.
But what is Valley fever and why does it have the state’s Department of Public Health on alert?
As CalMatters health reporter Ana B. Ibarra explains, about 80 Californians die every year from Valley fever. People can get sick with Valley fever when they inhale the fungus’ nearly-invisible spores. The spores can be kicked up in the soil through wind, farming or even dancing, in the case of the music festival .
This can lead to coughing, fevers, and lung infections — symptoms that can mimic COVID, so health officials recommending testing for that first. Unlike COVID, the infection isn’t contagious, and many people get better without treatment. But in more serious cases, the infection can spread to the heart and brain, and requires hospitalization or surgery to treat.
Historically, most Valley fever cases start in Kern County, but a significant number have also been reported in Los Angeles, Fresno and in some Central Coast counties. This year through June, more than 5,300 cases of Valley fever have been reported in the state — 63% more than the same period last year.
And lastly: Homelessness myths + training firefighters
A small homeless encampment in Fresno on Feb. 10, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters
There’s a lot of misinformation floating around about unhoused people in California. CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall and producer Robert Meeks have a video segment on Marisa’s story on debunking common homelessness myths as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here .
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: Gov. Newsom often brags about California’s economy, but unemployment data paints a grimmer picture .
As California expands hydrogen technology to reduce fossil fuel emissions, it should not harm historically marginalized communities, writes Ben Jealous , executive director of the Sierra Club.
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Newsom declines pay raise as CA deals with budget issues // KCRA
ICE cuts off free calls to lawyers for immigrant detainees in CA // KQED
Greedy landlords. Period. Can’t afford your mortgage without gouging someone? You are financially a fkn idiot. It’s no one else’s problem that you overextended yourself! And I’m a landlord! With no mortgage because I didn’t take on more than I could handle!!!
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