Berkeley's City Council is set to vote Oct. 13 on an overhaul of how the city decides who gets first crack at new affordable apartments. The item, continued from the Sept. 29 meeting, would replace the current points-based Affordable Housing Preference Policy with a ranked, six-tier system, according to the city staff report and The Daily Californian.
How it works now
The policy, adopted in July 2023, aims to fight displacement and address historical harms. Today applicants earn one preference point for each priority category they qualify for, such as being displaced by foreclosure, eviction or BART construction, living in a current or former redlined Berkeley neighborhood, or having children. More points mean a better spot in the lottery.
That approach was built for the old Alameda County Housing Portal. Since the county moved to the regional Doorway Bay Area portal in May 2025, the city says points haven't fit. Staff wrote that Doorway can't automate or audit Berkeley's lotteries, so they are run by hand, applicants get lottery numbers in emailed documents, and positions keep shifting as paperwork is checked. Anna Cash, a city housing policy specialist, told the Daily Cal the result was long, static waitlist files that confused families.
The proposed tiers
Under the revision, people displaced by BART station construction in Berkeley would stay in Tier 1. Direct descendants of residents of redlined neighborhoods would fill Tiers 2 and 3, and current or displaced Berkeley residents Tiers 4 and 5, with households with children under 18 ranked higher within Tiers 2 through 5. Everyone else would be Tier 6. Applicants would only need to document their highest tier, and anyone who can't prove a preference would simply drop to the next tier they qualify for.
The update would also drop homelessness or risk of homelessness as a separate category. Cash said 69% of homeless applicants didn't meet minimum income requirements, and that other programs serve people with extremely low incomes better.
What the pilot showed
The first project under the policy, the 87-unit Maudelle Miller Shirek Community, opened applications in January 2024. Cash said 59% of its preference units went to households with verified preferences, and more than one in four households that moved in had ties to redlined neighborhoods. If approved, the new rules take effect Nov. 1 for new Housing Trust Fund and below-market-rate projects; people already on waitlists stay under the old system.