Apple announces $2.5 billion plan to ease California housing crisis

Faced with ever-increasing housing prices, people are leaving San Francisco and the Bay Area, and Apple, whose corporate home is in Cupertino, California, wants to do something about it.

On Monday, the company announced a $2.5 billion plan to alleviate the issue by investing in affordable housing and helping Californians — especially first-time home buyers and low-income families — buy a home.

“Affordable housing means stability and dignity, opportunity and pride. When these things fall out of reach for too many, we know the course we are on is unsustainable, and Apple is committed to being part of the solution," Tim Cook said in a statement.

The $2.5 billion plan includes a $1 billion affordable housing investment fund, which will provide the state of California and other entities with an "open line of credit to develop and build additional new, very low- to moderate-income housing faster and at a lower cost."

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Another $1 billion will go towards a first-time homebuyer mortgage assistance fund, which should help homeowners with financing, with a focus on increasing access to first-time homeownership for "essential service personnel, school employees and veterans."

Additionally, Apple will commit $300 million towards building affordable housing in Apple-owned and available land, a $150 million towards a Bay Area housing fund, and $50 million towards supporting vulnerable populations.

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Apple says the funding commitment will take roughly two years to be fully utilized, and capital returned to Apple will be reinvested in future projects over the next five years. Furthermore, the company says it will keep looking for ways to support local communities and affordable housing efforts.

Apple’s scheme follows a similar plan by Google, which pledged $1 billion in June 2019 to fight the Bay Area housing crisis, mainly by repurposing Google-owned land for residential housing.