Housing
Regional Inequality Context
The Central Coast faces a deepening housing crisis driven by sky-high property values, minimal new construction, and weak rental protections—conditions that worsened dramatically during the pandemic. Across Santa Barbara, Ventura, and San Luis Obispo counties, a majority of renters routinely spend more than 30% of their income on housing. When workers cannot afford to live where they work, the housing crisis becomes a labor crisis and follows broader patterns of regional inequality. The CCREI’s housing data offers critical insights into who is being displaced and who can afford to stay.
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Resources
Central Coast Alliance United for a Sustainable Economy
CAUSE is committed to social, economic and environmental justice for working-class and immigrant communities in California’s Central Coast. Housing justice campaigns are a pillar of CAUSE’s work in Oxnard, Ventura, Santa Paula, and Santa Barbara.
Democratic Socialists of America – SLO Tenant’s Guide
The DSA SLO’s Tenant’s Guide provides a clear outline of tenant law through explanations of critical moments while renting.
Isla Vista Tenants Union
Isla Vista Tenants Union challenges and transforms unjust housing conditions and housing policies through empowerment-based education, leadership development, and grassroots community organizing. Learn More
Santa Barbara Tenants Union
SBTU is an all-volunteer, tenant-led Union dedicated to defending tenants against unjust evictions, rent increases, and negligent and abusive landlords. Union members provide each other and other tenants with education, solidarity, and mutual support in the fight to make housing a human right.
SBCAG Housing Dashboard
The SBCAG Dashboard is an interactive tool tracking housing development, affordability, availability, and demographic trends in Santa Barbara County.
Housing Authority of the City of Santa Barbara
The Housing Authority functions primarily to build, acquire, own, manage and maintain residential rental units for persons of extremely low income (less than 30% of area median income), very low income (less than 50% of area median income), and to obtain rental payment assistance for similar households renting in the private real estate market.
Santa Barbara County Housing Authority FAQ
A list of frequently asked questions related to Housing Choice Vouchers (HCVs) and Project-Based Vouchers (PBVs). Links to a help center contact form to request further information.
Ventura Tenant Union
Founded in 2018, the Ventura Tenant Union stands up to landlords, protects tenant rights, and builds stronger communities.
Ventura County Bar Association’s Just Cause and Rent Stabilization Presentation
This presentation explains Ventura’s Rent Stabilization and Just Cause for Eviction ordinances. It walks through which properties are covered, the specific at-fault and no-fault eviction grounds, notice and relocation requirements, rent increase limits, and the penalties for noncompliance.
CA Office of the Attorney General’s Landlord-Tenant Issues
This guide summarizes state law regarding rental housing, including rent caps, just cause eviction requirements, and other regulations concerning tenants.
Arrendatarios de California – Spanish Guide for Tenants
Una guía para los derechos y las responsabilidades de los arrendatarios residenciales y los arrendadores.
How to Research Your Landlord
The Anti-Eviction Mapping Project has compiled several resources about researching rental property ownership for tenants.
What the Region Still Needs
Housing justice campaigns on the Central Coast have had major victories in the past five years. In Ventura County, organizers in the cities of Oxnard and Ventura have secured significant advances for tenant protections including Just Cause Eviction Ordinances in 2022 and anti-harassment ordinances in 2025. The City of Oxnard also passed a rent stabilization ordinance with a 4% rent cap in 2022, which represents a significant step toward keeping housing affordable and mitigating threats of housing insecurity. Santa Barbara County passed a just cause eviction ordinance in 2023, which like those passed in Oxnard and Ventura, established legal requirements for landlords to carry out evictions. Organizers in the city of Santa Barbara also won legal protections against “renovictions” successively in 2024 and 2025, protecting renters from displacement and unfair rent increases when landlords renovate rental units. In San Luis Obispo, the city recently won a $20,000 prize from the National League of Cities to create a support system for repairing manufactured homes in their city. This will help residents who are struggling with subpar housing conditions and supports the city in repairing and maintaining their housing stock.
In late 2025, organizers with the Santa Barbara Tenants Union helped introduce a rent stabilization ordinance, which would create a cap for annual rent increases equal to 60 percent of the Consumer Price Index.
Explore the Data
The dearth of affordable housing was exacerbated during the pandemic, when the average cost of a 1 bedroom apartment in Santa Barbara rose 47% in a 5 year period. This mirrors similar situations in the rest of Santa Barbara County, as well as Ventura and San Luis Obispo counties, where renters are overburdened and spending more than 30% of their monthly income on rent. Rent burden across San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, and Ventura Counties reveals a pervasive housing affordability crisis. Santa Barbara County shows particularly severe rent burden challenges, with college community Isla Vista leading with 82% of renter households spending more than 30% of their income on rent, followed by Los Olivos at 77%. 43% of renters in San Luis Obispo County live in neighborhoods that have been deemed “at risk” for housing precarity.
See how rent burden varies across the Central Coast—who pays more than they can afford, and where—by exploring the Equity Indicators below.
