L.A. approves $100M affordable housing plan with ‘mansion tax’ cash

The Los Angeles City Council has unanimously approved groundbreaking legislation to bring affordable housing to all.

The proposal allocates $100 million from Measure ULA, also known as the “mansion tax,” to develop social housing.

“It’s not new to the world. It’s certainly new to Los Angeles,” said Alex McElvain with ACT-LA . “It is deployed in cities from Singapore to Paris to Vienna. In Vienna, it’s about 60% of housing stock.”

The social housing developments will be available to people of all income levels, and while there will be management to handle repairs and handiwork, residents will have some of “the dignity and rights of homeownership,” McElvain said.

“The residents of social housing developments will be more like their own landlords than their own management company,” he explained. “They will vote on things like, how should rent be allocated? Are we gonna allow pets in the building? Is it okay to paint your walls?”

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McElvain said L.A. is the most unaffordable major American city when housing costs are measured against income.

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