LAHSA said fewer subsidies created a bottleneck in the rehousing system, reducing the number of people moving from interim housing into permanent homes and limiting available shelter beds.
Homelessness declined in Los Angeles’s Westside (City Council District 11) over the past year, according to 2026 Point-in-Time Count data released Friday by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, even as homelessness remained largely unchanged across the region.
LAHSA reported an estimated 73,040 people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, a 1.2% increase from 2025, and 45,194 people in the city of Los Angeles, up 3.4%. The agency said neither increase was statistically significant.
LAHSA attributed the slowdown after two consecutive years of declining homelessness to reduced funding for Time Limited Subsidies, a temporary rental assistance program that helps people move into permanent housing. The agency said fewer subsidies created a bottleneck in the rehousing system, reducing the number of people moving from interim housing into permanent homes and limiting available shelter beds.
Despite the regional trend, Santa Monica reported 718 people experiencing homelessness, down 11.6% from 812 a year earlier, according to a city news release citing LAHSA data. Unsheltered homelessness fell 18.7%, with 389 people counted sleeping outdoors, while the sheltered population increased nearly 10% to 222 people.
The city also reported a 29.8% decline in occupied vehicles, from 84 to 59, with the largest decrease among people living in vans.
Santa Monica officials attributed the decline to the city’s Homelessness Strategic Plan, expanded outreach programs and initiatives including SaMo Bridge, a diversion program that connects people cited for minor offenses with housing and treatment services instead of jail. Those claims were made in the city’s news release and were not independently verified.
Separately, Councilwoman Traci Park’s office said in a news release that homelessness in Council District 11 declined for the third consecutive year, including a 33% drop over the past year. The district includes Pacific Palisades, Venice, Mar Vista, Playa del Rey, Playa Vista and portions of Westchester.
Park’s office credited coordinated outreach efforts, expanded shelter access and enforcement of Los Angeles Municipal Code Section 41.18, which restricts camping in designated sensitive areas.
