City of Monterey looking to make housing more affordable

MONTEREY, CALIF (KION-TV)- Monterey’s City Council discussed the city’s housing and rental programs.

One woman who’s lived here since 1963 did not want to show her face on camera in case someone they know is watching. 

“I rented a home back, I want to say, in the mid-eighties,” the anonymous person said. “A three-bedroom home right up near Monterey High School for 1500 dollars a month. Now that home is like $4,000 a month. If you look at it on Zillow or Realestate.com."

In her opinion, the city is not doing enough to make things affordable. Some families are spending more than 50% of their earnings on rent. 

“They’re skipping major elements that would absolutely put them in a better position and give people that are low income a better opportunity and right now,” The anonymous person said. “That's not happening.”

The City of Monterey voted this week to allow staff to give them direction into creating a renter registration and other rent stabilization policies. 

Renter registration would make renters in apartments provide basic information. Property owners would be limited on their rent raise for renter stabilization policies. 

Mayor Tyller Williamson says renter registration helps better understand the situation. 

“A rental registry at the end of the day is to supply us with data,” Williamson said. “So it's all about data. beyond that really how the mechanism works is charging a business license fee to landlords that will fund the program.”

These policies can make a change, but people also understand why renters are selective in who they rent their properties out to. 

“I feel like the landlords aren't going to rent to people who have issues that are not being resolved first. So you're going from point A to point Z and you're expecting landlords to rent to people who are not going to protect their properties. They're not going to respect their properties.”

Per city and U.S. census data, two-thirds of people living in Monterey are renters. Of that two-thirds, 35% of renters are low or moderate-income households.

Once more information for the rental stabilization policies is gathered, it will be brought back to the council for further discussion.