Where is TOPA now?

Thank you for your support in advocating for the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act in Berkeley. Unfortunately, the City Council voted against TOPA on Monday, September 30th opting instead to explore a Community Opportunity to Purchase Act (COPA) without prior consultation with our coalition. We are disappointed that a version of TOPA, developed through community input over several years and championed by Councilmember Lunaparra, was rejected.

Our campaign aims to implement policies that prevent residential displacement and ensure a Right to Stay, Own, and Return, especially for communities impacted by housing discrimination. While initiatives like the Small Sites Program and Empty Homes Tax have made progress, we recognize that there is still work to be done. We look forward to engaging with you and the community on the COPA proposal and continuing our efforts toward a more equitable housing future.

Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA)

Berkeley, like the rest of the Bay Area, faces a housing crisis, one driven by rising rental prices and a hot housing market. With 75% of the city’s low-income census tracts at risk of or undergoing displacement and a continued loss of thousands of Black households, Berkeley desperately needs anti-displacement strategies that prioritize low income renters and communities of color. One of those strategies is the Tenant Opportunity to Purchase Act (TOPA), and Berkeley residents are asking TOPA be passed now!

TOPA prevents displacement by empowering tenants with choices for their future housing when the owner of a rental property decides to sell (learn how it works here! and see 3/16/21 Berkeleyside Op-ed). In Washington, DC, TOPA has helped preserve over 3500 units of affordable housing since 2002, and those numbers continue to grow. 

Berkeley’s TOPA policy is designed to:

• Prevent displacement of low-income communities of color and marginalized tenants

• Create permanently affordable housing

• Create pathways to ownership for tenants and promote democratic residential control

• Stabilize housing for existing tenants

• Give tenants choice and voice regarding their housing

• Protect rental housing from speculative investment by keeping them in the community

Now is the time for Berkeley to pass a TOPA policy that helps meet Berkeley’s housing crisis and needs.