In April 2013, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors approved an allocation, through a "Notice of Funding Availability" (NOFA) process, of approximately $13.4 million of unrestricted General Funds for affordable housing purposes. These funds were derived from a one-time distribution of Housing Trust Funds held by former redevelopment agencies in San Mateo County. These unrestricted general funds - which initiated the County's Affordable Housing Fund (AHF) - were set aside to provide financial assistance for the development of multifamily affordable rental housing and provision of emergency and transitional shelter in the County. The Board directed the County's Department of Housing to develop allocation guidelines and recommend projects for funding. As of May 2014, approximately $13.2 million of AHF funds have been allocated, collectively, to six multifamily affordable rental housing developments and four emergency and transitional housing projects ("AHF 1.0").
On August 5, 2014, the County Board of Supervisors authorized the Housing Authority of the County of San Mateo to publish another NOFA, using funds from the Housing Authority's Housing Assistance Program (HAP) Reserves to create affordable housing options for low-, very low-, and extremely low-income households. A total of $5 million was awarded to five projects, including three multifamily affordable housing rental developments, a homeownership project, and a farmworker housing program. This became the second funding round of the AHF ("AHF 2.0").