Santa Barbara County is a desirable location, and so has a severe shortage of affordable homes. This is well beyond the reach of many families. The County s Affordable Housing Program addresses this problem. Due to large demand, there are more people applying for houses than there are houses available. In order to fairly distribute available houses, the county uses a lottery system to establish priority.
Lottery subscription is handled by the housing project developer.
The county screens applicants to insure that potential buyers of affordable houses meet the established guidelines. The county was advised by an outside consultant that the process needs to be monitored more carefully. The Grand Jury received complaints from potential buyers, developers and real estate people regarding difficulties encountered in carrying out the affordable housing purchase process as specified by the County. Individual county supervisors have suggested that the affordable housing process needs investigating. The Grand Jury decided to investigate whether the process was indeed too difficult and whether it could be improved.