San Francisco Public Press, by Nuala Bishari
Nearly one in every 10 of San Francisco’s permanent supportive housing units — earmarked for people experiencing homelessness — is sitting empty.
The number of vacant units has climbed 58% since September and represents 9.9% of the permanent supportive housing stock. That’s more than triple the 3% limit the city said in November 2019 that it would impose on such vacancies.
Those units play a critical role in helping homeless people move off the streets and into more stable situations. And during the pandemic, they allow the city to create more space in shelter-in-place hotels, offering even more options for shelter to residents of the city who would otherwise go without, and potentially chipping away at San Francisco’s homelessness crisis.