As we saw in Part 1 of this report, the largest affordable housing subsidy in the country is a federal tax credit, according to SF’s Planning Department. It’s a crucial piece of a complex financial puzzle to build new homes for low-income residents.
But Washington’s largest housing expenditure in San Francisco – nearly $400 million in 2024 – is all about keeping people in their homes: the Section 8 renter assistance program.
When the feds stopped building public housing in the 1970s, Section 8 was supposed to make up the difference. Now the agency in charge of it is among many under fire from the Elon Musk-helmed Department of Government Efficiency.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced last month that DOGE had “recovered” nearly $2 billion from the department, and HUD secretary Scott Turner promised another $260 million in cuts. Weeks later, the president of the HUD workers union announced that DOGE threatened thousands of jobs in coming months. A memo obtained by the Washington Post indicates DOGE hopes to cut HUD staff in half.
There are signals that Section 8 could be in the line of fire too. The National Low Income Housing Coalition notes that while the recently passed spending bill actually boosts HUD’s budget, the increase isn’t enough to cover projected future costs and may see a net loss of some 32,000 Section 8 vouchers nationwide. Los Angeles recently paused new applications, citing the uncertainty.
“If housing authorities like San Francisco’s see large reductions in federal support, they will have to reduce aid to thousands of people, potentially making many of them homeless,” says Urban Institute researcher Yonah Freemark.
Behind the 8 ball
More than 15,000 San Francisco households use HUD vouchers. They qualify for Section 8 if they make less than $52,450 per year for one person, which is 50 percent of the city’s Area Median Income. With a voucher, a renter will pay no more than $1,750 a month out of pocket for housing and utilities.
Renters use Section 8 vouchers to pay private landlords. HUD has several voucher programs, including vouchers for veterans, the formerly homeless, and people fleeing domestic violence.
HUD recently announced it would end the pandemic-era Emergency Vouchers program four years early. SF received more than 900 of these vouchers. “This reduction will harm our ability to make progress in addressing the humanitarian crisis on our streets,” Beth Stokes, executive director of Episcopal Community Services, tells The Frisc via email. She calls the vouchers “vital rental assistance.”
Tenants Together spokesperson Shanti Singh tells The Frisc “the HUD staff cuts alone could be devastating” for vulnerable SF renters. Tenant activists are frequent critics of HUD and SFHA, Singh acknowledges, but she fears that the DOGE cuts by “these STEMlord clowns” could break the system in a way that drives mass homelessness.
No one at HUD returned requests for comment. The staff page for HUD’s SF office is no longer on the agency’s site. Formerly listed staff have not replied to phone calls or emails, and union representatives were not immediately available for comment.
Troubled institution
SFHA estimates that in 2024, the latest year for which data is available, HUD spent $393 million on Section 8 subsidies in the city, and another $70 million on other expenses, like improving public housing. The money is distributed through the SFHA, which exists mainly to administer HUD funds.
The Housing Authority is a troubled institution, suffering “deterioration over several decades,” as local urban policy think tank SPUR described it in 2023. Many tenants have complained of subpar conditions over the years. The city and HUD itself have excoriated SFHA for inadequate inspections and mismanagement of funds.
After a bailout in 2019, the agency had largely righted its financials, according to a 2023 audit. But the report said SFHA still needed to “ensure that its personnel are technically proficient, adequately trained, and have adequate resources.”
Despite these problems, studies have found that housing vouchers are an effective tool for avoiding “worst-case” outcomes like homelessness and “crowded housing” scenarios.
“Nobody has a nice thing to say about those institutions, but they’re the only place people are able to get help,” says Kevin Wong, co-director of the documentary Home Is a Hotel about SRO occupants, many of whom use vouchers. “If you have potholes in a road, you don’t bulldoze it into a dirt trail,” he adds.
When asked about plans to counter HUD funding cuts, an SFHA spokesperson tells The Frisc, “While we hope to avoid any underfunding that would impact our residents, Housing Authority staff are actively exploring measures to address various possibilities.”
The spokesperson declined to be more specific. On background, sources familiar with the city’s budget discussions said the City Attorney’s Office has likely counseled agencies not to discuss particulars to protect future legal defenses. The city attorney declined to comment.
From HUD to homeless
Section 8 is HUD’s largest funding stream for San Francisco, but it’s not the only one that keeps vulnerable renters housed or sheltered.
According to the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) program has furnished SF with nearly $57 million over the past ten years. HOPWA is “the federal funding source for most HIV housing services in San Francisco” according to a 2021 MOHCD report.
Support from the federal government is critical.
then-mayor london breed, speaking in early 2024 about $54 million in federal funding for homeless services and supportive housing
SF also benefits from HUD’s Emergency Solutions Grants Program, which has paid $12.6 million to the city since 2014 for rapid rehousing of homeless residents and to fund shelter services.
The largest homelessness-related funding stream, and perhaps the one in the most jeopardy, is HUD’s Continuum of Care program. In 2024, the city’s latest biennial count estimated more than 8,200 homeless people in SF, roughly split between those with shelter and those on the streets. It was the highest tally since the city began participating in the count, which is required to receive Continuum of Care funds.
“Support from the federal government is critical,” then-Mayor London Breed said in early 2024, announcing a new Continuum of Care infusion of nearly $54 million. Most of the money ($43 million) was earmarked for permanent supportive housing (PSH), which is reserved for formerly homeless residents and has health care and other services on site.
This month, U.S. Senator Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and other lawmakers alleged that the White House is attempting to hold back Continuum of Care funds. A “grant agreement” letter posted on Schiff’s site demands that any Continuum of Care beneficiary “certifies that it does not operate any programs promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion,” among other demands.
“To keep the lights on, providers are now being forced to draw on lines of credit at significant cost and risk to their organizations,” Schiff said in a message to HUD. HSH did not respond to queries about the HUD warning letters.
With multiple White House plans now embroiled in court, it’s impossible to say what funds will be available. San Francisco is also wrestling with its own budget shortfall, nearing $1 billion. “There’s very little clarity,” says MOHCD spokesperson Anne Stanley.
The city has more than 13,000 PSH units. Problems with a small percentage of disruptive tenants have spurred calls for “PSH plus,” perhaps separate facilities for people with higher needs. HSH is also spending $4 million on a pilot program in a Tenderloin PSH building to provide an extra layer of health care. Both are examples of the burgeoning costs to address the intertwined nuances of homelessness, housing, and health care.
SF voters have generally been willing to fund modest amounts of affordable housing, as with 2019 and 2024 bonds. City voters also approved a new $8 million subsidy for low-income seniors last fall. But there’s only so much a cash-strapped City Hall can do. Even the modest senior subsidy can be cut in half if the city faces large budget deficits.
State voters can expand California housing funds in 2026. Even if the massive bond wins – no sure thing, seeing how a previous effort died last year – it will take years for thousands of new and rehabbed low-income homes to become reality.
Well before Donald Trump’s retribution tour, local and state unwillingness to build more homes helped fuel a housing and homelessness crisis. It’s clear that, at least for the next four years, only local and state solutions can unwind the crisis.
Correction, 3/27/25: This story originally misidentified Yonah Freemark’s employer. It is the Urban Institute, not the Urban Land Institute.
This article is a lie from a left wing news organization if you had listened to the interview with the doge team you would know that