Small Sites Program (SSP)

Information for MOHCD partners

The Small Sites Program (SSP) helps San Franciscans avoid displacement or eviction.

Small rent-controlled properties are often vulnerable to market pressure. What results are rising tenant rents, increased evictions, and property sales.

SSP protects tenants living in these properties, by removing them from the speculative market. The properties are then converted to permanently affordable housing.

SSP results in:

  • More permanently affordable housing (no longer rent-controlled)
  • Stabilized housing for current tenants
  • Improved physical condition of these buildings
  • Financial sustainability

Buildings are eligible for SSP if:

  • Two-thirds of existing tenants have maximum incomes at 80% Area Median Income (AMI) 
  • Building is between 5-25 units
  • Requires no major renovation (light to moderate renovation only)
  • Existing tenants meet per-unit subsidy limits in the program guidelines

What the Small Sites Program means for...

Existing tenants

Read more and nominate your building

Community sponsors

  • MOHCD works with sponsors to finance acquisition and renovation.
  • These organizations help tenants find out if their building is eligible.
  • The organization then owns and operates SSP buildings

Read the SSP NOFA

Download the SSP manual

SSP Community Partners

Contact the following community partners for more information about SSP, or to nominate your building

About the Small Sites Program

Launched by MOHCD in 2014, the Small Sites Program is an acquisition and rehabilitation loan program for small multifamily rental buildings.

The program was created to protect and establish long-term affordable housing throughout San Francisco. In the face of increasing pressure on tenants, the City developed SSP to support non-profit and for-profit entities in successfully removing these sites from the market and restricting them as permanently affordable housing. Since the program's launch, over 40 buildings with over 350 residential units and 27 commercial spaces have been acquired and preserved. 

SSP is funded through multiple sources, including voter-approved bonds, inclusionary housing fees, and the City’s Housing Trust Fund.