Housing Solutions in Antioch:

In this report, The Antioch Policy Grant team, comprised of Hope Solutions, Multi-Faith ACTION Coalition, and the City of Antioch, presents an overview of the affordable housing crisis in Antioch and the results of a nine-month listening campaign focused on obtaining community feedback on potential solutions. The findings underscore the urgent need for innovative, scalable solutions that can be tailored to meet the unique needs of Antioch’s community.

By leveraging the potential of cottage communities on faith-owned land and accessory dwelling units (ADUs), the team proposes an approach to expand the form affordable housing may take and the options where it may be built. This initiative not only aims to increase the housing stock but also to foster community engagement and organizing, with an emphasis on incorporating diverse voices in shaping policies.

Everyone deserves a decent place to live. Yet, the housing crisis, fueled by an inadequate supply, escalates housing instability and homelessness across California. Approximately 1.2 million new affordable homes are needed by 20301 to meet the housing needs of low-income Californians. To meet this urgent need, California must implement innovative approaches at scale to create more affordable housing units.

Within Contra Costa County, the affordable housing crisis continues to worsen with a current shortfall of more than 34,000 homes for those most in need–extremely and very low-income individuals and families. This shortfall is pushing people into tenuous economic situations, overcrowded and unsafe housing, and homelessness. The 2022 Contra Costa Point-in-Time Count revealed there were nearly 3,100 homeless individuals living in the county, a figure experts believe is significantly underestimated and may be closer to 10,600. Notably, Antioch has seen over 1,1603 people lose their homes according to the 2022 count.

Compounded by soaring raw material costs, the traditional on-site construction approaches to building housing take too long and cost too much to address the shortage fully. Recent reports suggest that in California, a one-bedroom affordable housing unit can cost close to $1M to build after incorporating all the required approvals, procedures, and government requirements. This financial burden and regulatory complexity deter affordable housing development, despite an unprecedented demand.

In response to this crisis, the Partnership for the Bay’s Future awarded Hope Solutions, the Multi-Faith ACTION Coalition, and the City of Antioch a Policy Grant, which provided $500k, technical assistance, and added capacity through a housing policy fellow. These two-year grants allow local governments to build trusting, effective partnerships with community partners to develop equitable policies and ensure those often excluded from the policy process are at the center of efforts for change. This grant enabled the Antioch Policy Grant team to pursue two initiatives to increase affordable housing inventory:

1. Streamlining and building cottage communities on faith-owned land and
2. Making the process of building Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), also known as backyard cottages, more feasible and accessible to lower-income homeowners who want to add to the affordable housing inventory and generate new income streams for themselves.

Community engagement and organizing underpin both initiatives, with a priority to elevate the voices of individuals and communities with lived experience to contribute to the planning and execution of these initiatives. Involving the community in policymaking ensures that solutions are designed with a deep understanding of the actual challenges faced, making policies more responsive and effective. This equitable approach directly involves those most affected by housing crises, addressing racial and economic disparities by empowering underrepresented voices to shape policies that directly impact their lives.

As Antioch grapples with this housing affordability crisis, the Antioch Policy Grant team has identified possible new and innovative solutions in the form of what is permitted to be built in Antioch (i.e., the forms new housing may take) and where it may be built. Small footprint, factory-built homes; faith-owned land; and the backyards of single-family homes are all parts of this recipe, as discussed below. These new and innovative options are just some of the many needed, but they are particularly well suited for Antioch’s suburban context and high construction costs.