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. Mashable reports:
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.”
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.