The City Council Tuesday took steps to develop a multilingual online housing search and application system that is intended to help individuals find affordable housing in the city.
Council members voted unanimously to approve a three-year contract through November 2026 with Exygy, a digital innovation studio, for approximately $2.3 million as part of the first phase to build out the online system.
Council members Nithya Raman, who chairs the council's Housing and Homeless Committee, and Council President Pro Tem Marqueece Harris-Dawson introduced a motion on April 14 seeking to create a "comprehensive, multilingual online system" that would simply the housing search based on applicants' needs, preferences and qualifications.
The system would include different housing types such as covenanted affordable units and privately financed units created through incentive-based programs.
According to a report from the Los Angeles Housing Department, the city has an online housing search and application system called Accessible Housing Program (AcHP), but it only serves people with disabilities and ensures they have an equal opportunity to find and rent city-subsidized affordable housing units.
In 2016, the city created the AcHP as a result of a settlement agreement with the Independent Living Center of Southern California and other plaintiffs regarding accessibility in the city's portfolio of affordable housing developments.
LAHD determined in 2019 that the program's registry should include all affordable housing units, not only accessible affordable units. The improvement was launched in 2020, yet the system continues to face ongoing challenges.
The city intends to create a new system that would offer three "core products" -- a public portal for property search and pre-application; partner portal for developers and property managers; and an administration portal for city staff.
According to LAHD, the system would cost approximately $1.4 million to develop.
"Our primary objective for the first year is to reach an initial product launch. There is a possibility that we may need to incorporate new features that weren't initially prioritized," the report reads.
The first phase to build out the system is expected to be completed by June 30, 2024. It would be followed by the second phase, launch and enhancement which would run through June 30, 2025.
City officials would continue examining the online housing search and application system and implement necessary improvements to ensure the functionality and user-friendliness of the system.
The fourth and final phase would begin July 1, 2026, and consists of maintenance of the system. At this point, the city expects the system to be finalized and staff will provide recommendations for ongoing hosting, support and maintenance costs to sustain the system's long-term operation.
According to Raman and Harris-Dawson's motion, the city of San Francisco contracted with Exygy to launch the Database of Affordable Housing Listings, Information and Applications.
The council members described San Francisco's system, DAHLIA, as a "one-stop shop" that allows people to browse and apply for all available affordable housing in a "standardized, accessible and transparent way."
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