Apple allocates its first $400 million to address California’s housing crisis

Apple has announced that it’s allocating more than $400 million towards affordable housing projects and homeowner assistance programs this year, as part of the company’s $2.5 billion commitment to combat the housing crisis in California.

The company said it’s working in a public-private partnership with Housing Trust Silicon Valley. They’ll work on four projects in the San Francisco Bay Area that will create 250 new units of affordable housing, many of them reserved for veterans, the homeless or formerly homeless, and residents with developmental disabilities.

There’s also a mortgage and down payment assistance fund and an affordable housing investment support program created with the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA).

In partnership with CalHFA, Apple has provided mortgage and down payment assistance to hundreds of first-time home buyers to date, with additional benefits for teachers, veterans, and firefighters. CalHFA’s assistance program supports low- and moderate-income first-time home buyers, and reflects the state’s diversity — historically, over 65 percent of borrowers identify as Hispanic, Black, Asian, Pacific Islander, or American Indian.

Apple is also partnering with Destination: Home to support additional construction of affordable housing units. Destination: Home supports Silicon Valley’s most vulnerable populations.

Apple’s support for Destination: Home has helped fund the construction of over 1,000 new units of deeply-affordable and supportive housing for the community’s most vulnerable populations across Silicon Valley. This includes a new project in Santa Clara that will create 80 new units, designed for seniors who are currently homeless or at risk of falling into homelessness. And with Apple’s support, Destination: Home has also been able to expand the capacity of the organization’s Homelessness Prevention System to keep 1,500 families annually from losing their homes — an increase of 67 percent from a year ago.

Apple’s commitment includes $1 billion in an affordable housing investment fund, $1 billion to a first-time homebuyer mortgage assistance fund, $300 million in Apple-owned and available land for affordable housing, $150 million for a Bay Area housing fund, and $50 million to support homeless in Silicon Valley.