Santa Barbara rents rose 9% in 2022

Rents in Santa Barbara, California increased by 9% in 2022, according to the annual report by Hayes Commercial Group, as apartment vacancies fell to 1.7%. 

Tenant rights activists addressed the Santa Barbara City Council to protest "renovictions," whereby landlords evict tenants to make property improvements. These "mass evictions" frequently occur under the guise of renovations, de-regulate rent and resell, said Stanley Tzankov, co-founder of the Santa Barbara Tenants Union. 

He argued that "renovictions" are the only legal method to evict tenants in large multifamily apartments. Furthermore, apartment sales in the South Coast area are flourishing, with $141m spent in 2022, the largest total since 2015.

Additional points:

• The report states that addressing the housing shortage in Santa Barbara will require some 60-foot-tall new apartment buildings, as well as "small-ball" adaptive reuse projects like 16 W. Mission St., which was converted from an office building to 23 apartments and sold in 2022.
• Rising rents are disproportionately affecting people by class, race, ethnicity, language access, disability, and immigration status, according to those who spoke at the City Council meeting.
• Councilwoman Meagan Harmon wants to eliminate "renovictions" and believes it is critical to address this loophole as soon as possible.

Source: Noozhawk