SEC. 1308. SUBDIVISIONS.
§ 1308
This section defines key terms used throughout San Francisco's subdivision regulations, including condominiums, community apartments, stock cooperatives, conversions, and related concepts such as tenants, subtenants, and income-based housing categories.
These are the definitions that the City uses when talking about subdivisions and different types of property ownership. A condominium is when you own your individual unit plus a share of common areas. A community apartment is when you own a share of the whole property but have exclusive use of your apartment. A stock cooperative is when a corporation owns the building and you own shares that give you the right to live in a specific unit. A conversion is when an existing apartment building is changed into condominiums, community apartments, or stock cooperatives, or when units are divided into separate lots. The section also defines tenants (people living in units under lease or rental agreement) and subtenants (people whose right to live somewhere comes from the tenant, not the owner). It sets income thresholds to identify low-income and moderate-income housing for conversion purposes.
- Complex:The section contains many cross-references (e.g., to Sections 1309, 1344, Planning Code 207.4) and relies on external definitions; readers need to consult other sections to fully understand income thresholds and household-size conversions.
- Could be simpler:Subsections (l) and (m) on low-income and moderate-income housing use identical formulas for relating apartment size to household size; consolidating this rule would reduce repetition and improve clarity.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) "Common areas" shall mean an entire project excepting all units therein granted or reserved.
(b) "Community Apartments" shall mean an estate in real property consisting of an undivided interest in common in a parcel of real property and the improvements thereon coupled with the right of exclusive occupancy of any apartment located therein.
(c) "Condominium" shall mean an estate in real property consisting of an undivided interest in common in a portion of a parcel of real property together with a separate interest in space in a residential, industrial, or commercial building on such real property, such as an apartment, office, or store. A Condominium may include in addition a separate interest in other portions of such real property. Such estate may, with respect to the duration of its enjoyment, be either (1) an estate of inheritance or perpetual estate, (2) an estate for life, or (3) and estate for years, such as a leasehold or subleasehold. This definition is intended to conform to Section 783 of the California Civil Code and any other section of California law.
(d) “Conversion” shall mean a subdivision which changes the type of ownership of real property to that defined as a Condominium project, Community Apartment project or Stock Cooperative and in which two or more condominiums, community apartments or units in a stock cooperative are newly created wholly or in substantial part within an existing residential structure or structures, regardless of the present or prior use of such structures and of whether substantial improvements have been made to such structures. A conversion also shall include a subdivision that: (1) is created wholly or in substantial part within an existing residential structure or structures, regardless of the present or prior use of such structures and of whether substantial improvements have been made to such structures and (2) divides one or more of the existing residential dwelling units into separate lots, parcels, or units. A conversion also shall include a subdivision involving certain Accessory Dwelling Units and an associated primary residence under Section 1396.8, and Planning Code Section 207.4.
(e) "Project" shall mean the entire parcel or real property divided or to be divided in any of the methods defined as a subdivision.
(f) "Stock Cooperative" shall mean a corporation formed or availed of primarily for the purpose of holding title to, either in fee simple or for a term of years, improved real property, if all or substantially all of the shareholders of such corporation receive a right of exclusive occupancy in a portion of the real property, title to which is held by the corporation, which right of occupancy is transferable only concurrently with the transfer of the share or shares of stock in the corporation held by the person having such right of occupancy.
(g) "Subdivider" shall mean a person, firm, corporation, partnership or association who proposes to divide, divides or causes to be divided real property into a subdivision for himself or for others. City agencies, including the San Francisco Redevelopment Agency, are exempted from this definition.
(h) "Subdivision" shall mean the division of any improved or unimproved land, shown on the latest equalized County assessment roll as a unit or as contiguous units, for the purpose of sale, lease or financing, whether immediate or future. Property shall be considered as contiguous units even if it is separated by roads, streets, utility easements or railroad rights-of-way. This definition shall specifically but not exclusively include Condominiums, Community Apartments, Stock Cooperatives and Conversions.
(i) "Unit" shall mean the elements of a project which are to be owned individually and not in common with the owners of other elements of the project.
(j) "Tenant" shall mean a person or persons entitled under a lease, rental agreement or other agreement with the owner of record of the property or his or her agent to occupy a dwelling unit. A "tenant" can be an owner or a shareholder of the owner of record who resides in the property. For purposes of this definition, "Tenant" shall mean "Subtenant" as defined in Section 1308(k) where the subtenant occupies and resides in the unit in agreement with and to the exclusion of the tenant and with the consent of the owner.
(k) "Subtenant" shall mean a person or persons whose rights to occupy a dwelling are derived from the tenant rather than from the property owner or his or her agent.
(l) "Low-Income Housing Stock" shall mean those rental dwelling units in buildings being proposed for conversion for which the rent, at the time the application for conversion is filed, does not exceed 25 percent of the gross monthly income of a low-income household as defined in Section 1309(e). For purposes of applying this Section and Section 1309(e), a studio apartment shall be deemed to be a one-person household, a one-bedroom apartment shall be deemed to be a two-person household, a two-bedroom apartment shall be deemed to be a three-person household, and a three-bedroom apartment shall be deemed to be a four-person household.
(m) "Moderate-Income Housing Stock" shall mean those rental dwelling units in buildings being proposed for condominium conversion, the rental for which at the time of filing the application for conversion exceeds the amount which would cause the unit to be defined as low-income housing stock pursuant to Section 1308(l), but does not exceed 25 percent of the gross monthly income of a moderate-income household as defined in Section 1309(f). In relating the size of the unit to household size, the same relationships set forth for low-income housing shall apply.
(n) "Gross Income" shall have the meaning set forth in Section 1344.
(o) "Household" shall mean any person or persons who reside or intend to reside in the same housing unit.
(p) "Household of median income" and "Household of low income" shall have the meaning set forth in Section 1344.
(Amended by Ord. 337-79, App. 7/6/79; Ord. 426-89, App. 11/22/89; Ord. 161-01, File No. 010891, App. 7/9/2001; Ord. 203-02, File No. 021503, App. 10/11/2002; Ord. 281-04, File No. 041353, App. 12/1/2004; Ord. 185-08, File No. 080407, App. 8/5/2008; Ord. 320-08, File No. 080520, App. 12/19/2008; Ord. 113-25, File No. 241069, App. 7/11/2025, Eff. 8/11/2025)