Mayor Daniel Lurie opened the full Board of Supervisors meeting with a message about what he calls “a rent emergency.” The good news, he said, is that San Francisco is “finally moving in the right direction.”
But Lurie quickly tempered that optimism with a warning: Rents are rising faster in San Francisco than in any other major U.S. city. The median rent has increased 25.6 percent over the past year.
“People who lose their homes struggle to find somewhere to go,” Lurie said.
To address what he calls a housing “emergency,” Lurie highlighted a sweeping package of tenant protections and housing investments.
“When more people want to live in San Francisco, the rents rise. We must build more housing,” Lurie said.
Specifically, the mayor thanked District 3 Supervisor Danny Sauter for legislation that would limit the amount landlords can collect in a single year through banked rent increases and capital improvement charges. The proposal would cap the combined increase at 10 percent annually for rent-controlled tenants, while still allowing landlords to bank unused increases.
Lurie also thanked District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey for proposed legislation that would require tenants to receive clearer information about rent-increase limits and just-cause eviction rules.
Currently District 9 Supervisor Jackie Fielder is sponsoring another bill aimed at preventing evictions for relatively small rent arrears. Under the proposal, landlords could not evict tenants for nonpayment unless the tenant owes at least one month’s worth of fair-market rent.
The mayor also pointed to the city’s financial commitments. San Francisco has more than $54 million in fiscal 2026–27 funding for emergency rental assistance and eviction legal defense. That includes direct rental assistance and tenant-based subsidies, as well as funding for legal representation.
The new package also adds $3 million to the Tenant Right to Counsel program, expanding full-scope eviction representation to about 400 households that previously would have received partial assistance.
“When more people want to live in San Francisco, the rents rise. We must build more housing,” Lurie said.
He pointed to District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar’s proposal to more than double the city’s Housing Trust Fund. The proposed charter amendment would increase the city’s annual contribution from about $52 million to more than $125 million and extend the fund through 2058. The measure is scheduled to go before San Francisco voters in November.
The proposal could generate up to $3 billion in additional funding over 30 years, with money directed toward affordable housing construction, preservation, down-payment assistance and housing stabilization.
Lurie then highlighted efforts to convert downtown office buildings into housing. San Francisco currently has about 300 residential units in the office-to-housing conversion pipeline, with several projects moving forward after years of regulatory and financial barriers.
The city has also created financial incentives intended to make office conversions more feasible. A new financing district provides incentive payments over 30 years to qualifying conversion projects, while other recent changes have streamlined approvals and reduced development costs.
In the end, Lurie said, San Francisco has to pursue two strategies concurrently: protect current renters from eviction and build more housing for people who want to live in the city.
San Francisco should be a city where every family has a place to thrive,” Lurie concluded.
