California Gov. Gavin Newsom recently signed more than two dozen housing bills aimed at boosting housing production in the state.
“The acute affordability crisis we are experiencing in California was decades in the making, and now we’re taking the necessary steps to fix it,” said Newsom, who signed the legislation at an affordable housing development in Oakland. “This package of smart, bipartisan legislation boosts housing production in California—more streamlining, more local accountability, more affordability, more density. These bills, plus this year’s historic budget investments in affordable housing, will directly lead to more inclusive neighborhoods across the state. Creating denser housing near jobs, parks, and schools is key to meeting our climate goals as well as our affordability goals.”
The state is focusing on four key areas: streamlining the building of new homes, breaking down barriers to build more affordable housing, addressing systemic bias by elevating fair housing principles, and holding local governments accountable to do their job.
The package of bills signed at the Oakland event, combined with four housing bills signed in early September, create a 31-bill housing package.
Among the bills signed was AB 215 authored by Assemblymember David Chiu (D-San Francisco) that gives the state more oversight on local housing production progress.
Newsom also signed the Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act by Senate President pro Tempore Toni G. Atkins (D-San Diego). The bill (SB 9) aims to streamline the process for homeowners to create a duplex or subdivide their property to allow for up to four units on their parcel.
Earlier, state leaders passed SB 10 by Scott Weiner (D-San Francisco), which eases the way for cities to zone for smaller apartment apartments. It allows cities to "upzone" non-sprawl areas for up to 10-unit buildings.
Newsom also announced the launch of California’s new Housing Accountability Unit (HAU) at the California Department of Housing and Community Development. The new HAU will work with local municipalities to provide technical assistance to jurisdictions to aid their efforts to comply with state legislation mandating housing creation, including zoning and permitting. The HAU also will be empowered to take escalating enforcement steps to bring municipalities into compliance with their housing goals in the event of persistent noncompliance, according to state officials.
