Permanent Affordable Housing

Fresno’s housing market is failing many of its lowest-income residents. More than half of all families are rent-burdened, and that number jumps to nearly 75% among low and extremely low-income households. While new apartments are being built, they’re often unaffordable to those who need them most. Meanwhile, thousands of older affordable homes are deteriorating beyond repair, leaving families in unsafe, overcrowded conditions. Limited flexible capital and few assurances that new development will meet the greatest need have kept Fresno’s housing system deeply inequitable.

 

For decades, local policies prioritized suburban sprawl over reinvestment in central neighborhoods. Land use decisions and rental practices entrenched segregation by race and income, cutting many families off from opportunity. Affordable housing developers have long struggled to secure the public and private resources needed to maintain or expand housing supply, particularly in the urban core. As a result, demand has soared while solutions have lagged.

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Recent years have brought a shift. Updated general and community plans, citywide zoning reforms, and a surge in community organizing are laying the foundation for more equitable growth. DRIVE’s Permanent Affordable Housing Initiative builds on this progress by aiming to create, restore, and revitalize 12,000 quality, affordable homes. It seeks to secure diverse funding sources for preserving naturally occurring affordable housing and supporting new development.

 

One key strategy is a revolving loan fund to finance the acquisition and rehabilitation of older properties. Three new community-governed organizations—the Central CA Community Land Trust, South Tower CLT, and Central Fresno Neighborhood Trust—are also filling critical gaps. They focus on preserving and expanding affordable housing by purchasing, rehabilitating, and maintaining properties with permanently affordable rents, as well as creating opportunities for homeownership.

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Another core effort is ongoing advocacy to keep families in their homes, prevent eviction, and counteract gentrification. This includes coalition-building to ensure affordable housing is built across the city rather than concentrated in certain neighborhoods.

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Fresno’s housing future will ultimately be shaped by the interplay of policy, capital, and community power. The Permanent Affordable Housing Initiative weaves these elements together—not just to increase housing supply, but to provide stable foundations for families, strengthen neighborhoods, grow the local economy, and advance racial and economic equity.