SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. – 939 people are on the waitlist for the eight affordable housing properties in the City of South Lake Tahoe, according to the most recent report from analyst Lydia Zuniga. It’s a small increase from the 891 people on the waitlist reported last quarter.

In late March of last year, Mayor Cody Bass (then Mayor Pro Tem) requested a quarterly report on the number of people actively waiting for affordable housing in the city. Zuniga, the associate management analyst of the development services department, submits quarterly reports to city council to document this, along with other statistics. These reports are then presented at city council meetings.

Currently, there are 344 units of affordable housing in the city across Sierra Garden, Evergreen Tahoe Apartments, Tahoe Valley Townhomes, Tahoe Senior Plaza, Kelly Ridge, Tahoe Pines, the Aspens, and Sky Forest Acres. Some of these properties are specially designed for certain communities, such as seniors or disabled people.

Of the 939 people on the waitlist, there are approximately 100 names that appear on multiple lists. Wait times for housing range from 1 to 7 years and average at about 3 to 4 years. These wait times are dependent on the size of the unit, and for a three-bedroom apartment in Evergreen Tahoe Apartments, are expected to last from 5 to 7 years. However, though affordable housing is often designed to help tenants save money to move out and rent or purchase market price properties, there may be other factors that make them decide to stay in affordable housing. In the Aspens, for example, some tenants have lived in their unit for the full decade that the Aspens has been open.

Sugar Pine Village may alleviate this waitlist to some degree, but because the program is divided into phases, they have no official waitlist for the 248 units. However, the newly opened Phase 1 building will have 68 units full by Thanksgiving. The interest list for Sugar Pine Village, which is broader than a waitlist, is 600 people long. However, it’s expected that there are likely duplicates among this interest list and the affordable housing waitlist presented.

The report also included analysis on the Lease 2 Locals program, which started in late 2021 and is approaching the end of its third year. The program, which operates through Placemate, provides one-time cash incentives to property owners who convert their housing units to 12-month rentals for qualified households. As of 2024, the program has provided 14 grants, keeping steady compared to last year’s grant provisions. In total, the program has provided 51 grants and provided 776 rental months to date, not including months remaining on active leases.

According to the report’s summary, “The waitlist serves to document the number of people actively seeking out affordable units vs. the number that are immediately available. Those on the waitlist are choosing to wait for a unit while others may choose to not put their name on the list and seek alternative arrangements. As such, waitlists may be influenced by a variety of factors. Regardless, the need for affordable housing is well established.”

Eli Ramos is a reporter for Tahoe Daily Tribune. They are part of the 2024–26 cohort of California Local News Fellows through UC Berkeley.