SEC. 1302. PURPOSES.
§ 1302
This section establishes the purposes of San Francisco's subdivision code, which controls how residential subdivisions—especially condominium conversions—are developed. It aims to align subdivisions with the Master Plan while imposing special rules on condo conversions to preserve rental housing, protect tenants from displacement, ensure buyer transparency, and maintain the low-income housing stock.
San Francisco has a subdivision code to manage how neighborhoods develop in line with the city's Master Plan. Because converting rental buildings to condos affects housing differently than other subdivisions, the law sets special goals for condo conversions: to keep a mix of rentals and owned homes; to help current renters buy their units and prevent them from being forced out; to help displaced tenants relocate; to protect elderly and disabled tenants by letting them stay longer; to make sure buyers know the building's condition; to preserve affordable housing by limiting what conversion units can cost; and to require that new condo buildings include at least 10 percent affordable units (or the equivalent elsewhere, or pay into a city housing fund instead).
- Controversial:Condo conversion rules and limits on ownership growth are subjects of active public debate in San Francisco regarding housing affordability, tenant protection, and property rights.
- Complex:Subsection (c) layers multiple objectives together, and item (7) introduces alternative compliance pathways (on-site units, off-site construction, or in-lieu payments) that require cross-reference to other sections to understand fully.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) This Code is enacted to establish procedures and requirements for the control and approval of subdivision development within the City and County of San Francisco in accordance with SMA.
(b) This Code is enacted to encourage and ensure the development of subdivisions consistent with the objectives of the San Francisco Master Plan.
(c) Recognizing that, by their unique character and impact on the City's population and housing stock, condominium conversion subdivisions differ from other subdivisions, implementation of Subsections (a) and (b) of this Section requires the adoption of special requirements for conversions, the purposes of which are:
(1) To preserve a reasonable balance of ownership and rental housing within the City and County of San Francisco by providing for an annual limitation on the number of units which may be converted to condominiums in any year.
(2) To promote the meaningful expansion of homeownership opportunities for existing tenants and to prevent the displacement of existing tenants by requiring a high degree of tenant intent to purchase their rental units as a condition of approval.
(3) To reduce the impact of conversions on nonpurchasing tenants who may be required to relocate, by providing for procedures for notification and adequate time and assistance for relocation, and providing for the reimbursement of costs resulting from such relocation.
(4) To prevent the displacement of elderly and disabled tenants by assuring them of extended leases to remain in their units subsequent to conversion.
(5) To assure that purchasers of converted housing have been properly informed as to the physical condition of the structure which is offered for purchase.
(6) To prevent the effective loss of the City's low or moderate income housing stock by requiring sales price limitations on those units proposed for conversion which are found to be part of the low or moderate income housing stock.
(7) To expand the supply of the City's low or moderate income housing stock by provision of a minimum of 10 percent low or moderate income housing units in any condominium subdivision, or by construction of an equivalent number of such units elsewhere, or by in-lieu payments into a City housing development fund.
(Amended by Ord. 337-79, App. 7/6/79; Ord. 161-01, File No. 010891, App. 7/9/2001; Ord. 281-04, File No. 041353, App. 12/1/2004)