Long-term housing vacancies add to homelessness problem

Long-term housing vacancies add to homelessness problem

By Lynda Carson -- February 3, 2012

Oakland -- Long-term vacancies in low-income affordable housing projects and public housing continue to add to the homelessness problem in Oakland, and throughout the Bay Area.

Despite the extremely long waiting lists of the poor and low-income family households that are trying to move into public housing, and other so-called affordable housing projects for low-income households throughout Oakland and the Bay Area, there continues to be plenty of empty apartments sitting around that remain vacant for long periods of time.

Meanwhile, poor people needing housing immediately for themselves and their families are left to die on the streets, or are subject to the abuse of living in emergency shelters because of the huge apartment vacancy rate in Oakland, and Alameda County.

According to Sperling's Best Places, renters make up 53.47% of the population in Oakland, and currently 6.36% of houses and apartments are unoccupied throughout the city of Oakland. Additionally, as of November 2009, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), Oakland had an apartment vacancy rate of 5.8%.

During December of 2011, the San Francisco Bay Guardian reported that the waitlist for public housing units in San Francisco has 24,000 to 25,000 people currently waiting in line, and that out of 6,500 public housing units, during May of 2011, the San Francisco Housing Authority reported that there were 847 public housing vacancies.

The plight of the homeless in San Francisco is in dire straights, and it's reported that there are 267 homeless families in San Francisco on the shelter wait list during December 2011, in a city where homelessness is rampant and increasing due to the high rents, and continual loss of low-income housing rental units.

Across the Bay where over 400 protesters from the Occupy Oakland movement have been arrested and abused by the police in recent days for protesting against the dire housing situation in Oakland, the situation appears to be no better in Oakland, than the homeless situation is in San Francisco, and actually may be worse.

According to estimates, more than 7,000 men, women and children experience homelessness everyday in Alameda County, with most of the homeless persons being in Oakland, with the majority of them being women with children.

Smaller than the housing authority of San Francisco, the Oakland Housing Authority (OHA) owns and operates around 3,300 public housing units and according to the OHA during 2009, due to vacancies, out of 3,300 public housing units, only 2,935 of those rental housing units were actually occupied during that year. In other words, only 88.8% of Oakland's public housing units were occupied during 2009.

In comparison during 2006, the vacancy rate for Oakland's public housing sat at 11.40%, and the vacancy rate of Oakland's public housing sat at 12.90%, during 2005.


Long-term Vacancies Contribute To Homelessness


Incredibly, the average vacancy per unit in Oakland's public housing apartments lasted around 75 days in 2006, and the average vacancy per unit lasted around 85 days, during 2005.

During 2004 the vacancy rate was at 15.04% for Oakland's public housing, with apartments remaining vacant on average around 116 days.

Further research reveals that during 2003 the vacancy rate was 17.09% for Oakland's public housing units, with the apartments being vacant on average for around 182 days each.

In addition to the Oakland Housing Authority, one of Oakland's other largest nonprofit housing providers is the East Bay Asian Local Development Corporation (EBALDC). EBALDC has been involved in developing over 1,400 so-called affordable housing units, and town houses.

As recent as December 19, 2011, EBALDC reported 51 vacancies at their properties, and again as recent as December 12, 2011, EBALDC reported 27 vacancies at their properties, with a vacancy loss of $4,368 ending that week, with a total loss of revenue accrued at $54,741.20, due to vacancies.

As reported on December 12, 2011, EBALDC had one vacancy at the Avalon Senior Center, and one vacancy at the Giant Road Apartments for 309 days, and another vacancy at the Giant Road Apartments for 54 days, and one vacancy at Hismen House for 104 days, with one vacancy at Effie's House for the past 50 days and more, a vacancy at Jack London Gateway for 73 days, a vacancy at Lillie Mae Jones Plaza for the past 135 days, and a vacancy at Madison Park Apartments for 73 days, vacancies at Oakland Point LP, including one for 45 days, another for 76 days, plus one for 149 days, and another one for 68 days.

The Hugh Taylor House has some vacancies including one for 104 days, and one for 45 days, and another for 48 days, and Slim Jenkins Court has a vacancy for as long as 255 days, and the San Pablo Hotel has vacancies including one for 120 days, one for 28 days, one for 122 days, one for 49 days, one for 74 days, and another for 55 days, as was reported on December 12, 2011, by EBALDC.

The Occupy Oakland movement and the homeless population of Oakland believe that the sooner that these vacant apartments can be filled with households that need a roof over their head, the fewer homeless people there will be placed at risk of death, on the cold hearted means streets of Oakland.

Lynda Carson may be reached at tenantsrule [at] yahoo.com