California's 2017 Housing Package
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In your Subject Line, please reference the bill number (see below) related to your question.
- Purpose
- Housing Bills Summary
- Video Updates by HCD Director, Ben Metcalf
- Wanted: Your Input! — Help shape implementation of the 2017 Housing Package
- Projected Milestones
- Frequently Asked Questions
Purpose
The 2017 Legislative Housing Package provides a renewed focus on one of the most basic needs for every Californian … home. The housing package offers an injection of new regulatory and financial resources, and with it, an opportunity to innovate in the way we deliver housing throughout the state of California. HCD congratulates the Legislature for this great leap forward; because of their hard work, more California families will have within their reach not only better housing choices, but better health, safety, stability—in essence, better lives. HCD is proud that our Statewide Housing Assessment laid the foundation for the housing conversation in the Legislature and informed the 2017 Legislative Housing Package.
Provides critical funding for new affordable homes
- Imposes a $75 fee on recording of real estate documents (excluding sales) for investment in affordable-home development.
- Places a $4 billion general obligation bond on the November 2018 general election ballot for veterans and affordable housing programs.
Accelerates development to increase housing supply
- Creates a streamlined approval process for certain developments in cities/counties that have not yet met their legally mandated housing targets.
- Authorizes HCD to provide one-time planning funds and technical assistance to cities/counties to help them streamline housing production.
- Authorizes financial incentives for cities/counties that streamline development of housing in specific areas of their jurisdiction.
Holds cities/counties accountable for addressing housing needs in their communities
- Authorizes increased enforcement of state housing-planning ("housing element") law and enables HCD to refer violations to the Attorney General.
- Strengthens housing-planning law to ensure appropriate land is available for new development and increases transparency on local government progress in meeting legally mandated housing targets.
- Creates a $10,000 per unit penalty on cities/counties that deny (for unjustified reasons) approval of new homes affordable to low or moderate income Californians.
Creates opportunities for new affordable homes and preserves existing affordable homes
- Makes California's "farmworker housing tax credit" more attractive to developers.
- Creates additional tracking and enforcement responsibilities to ensure compliance with state housing-preservation laws.
- Allows the legislative body of a city/county the option to require a certain amount of low-income housing in any new residential rental developments.
Housing Bills Summary
| Streamline Housing Development | |
|---|---|
| Planning and Zoning | SB 35 (Wiener) Streamline Approval Process Opt-in program for developers Creates a streamlined approval process for developments in localities that have not yet met their housing targets, provided that the development is on an infill site and complies with existing residential and mixed use zoning. Participating developments must provide at least 10 percent of units for lower-income families. All projects over 10 units must be prevailing wage and larger projects must provide skilled and trained labor.
View projected milestones View FAQs for SB 35. |
| Planning and Zoning | AB 73 (Chiu) Streamline and Incentivize Housing Production Opt-in program for jurisdictions and developers Provides state financial incentives to cities and counties that create a zoning overlay district with streamlined zoning. Development projects must use prevailing wage and include a minimum amount of affordable housing. 2018 AB 73 Annual Report (PDF) View projected milestones |
| Planning and Zoning | SB 540 (Roth) Workforce Housing Opportunity Zones Opt-in program for jurisdictions Authorizes the state to provide planning funds to a city or county to adopt a specific housing development plan that minimizes project level environmental review. Requires at least 50 percent of total housing units within that plan to be affordable to persons or families at or below moderate income, with at least 10 percent of total units affordable for lower income households. Developments projects must use prevailing wage. View projected milestones |
| Accountability and Enforcement | |
| Amends Housing Accountability Act | AB 678 (Bocanegra)/SB 167 (Skinner) Strengthen the Housing Accountability Act Strengthens the Housing Accountability Act by increasing the documentation necessary and the standard of proof required for a local agency to legally defend its denial of low-to-moderate-income housing development projects, and requiring courts to impose a fine of $10,000 or more per unit on local agencies that fail to legally defend their rejection of an affordable housing development project. View projected milestones |
| Amends Housing Accountability Act | AB 1515 (Daly) Reasonable Person Standard States that a housing development conforms with local land use requirements if there is substantial evidence that would allow a reasonable person to reach that conclusion. View projected milestones |
| Amends Housing Element Law |
AB 72 (Santiago) Enforce Housing Element Law Authorizes HCD to find a jurisdiction out of compliance with state housing law at any time (instead of the current 8-year time period), and refer any violations of state housing law to the Attorney General if it determines the action is inconsistent with the locality’s adopted housing element. View the Accountability and Enforcement page. View projected milestones |
| Amends Housing Element Law |
AB 1397 (Low) Adequate Housing Element Sites Requires cities to zone more appropriately for their share regional housing needs and in certain circumstances require by-right1 development on identified sites. Requires stronger justification when non-vacant sites are used to meet housing needs, particularly for lower income housing. View projected milestones |
| Amends Housing Element Law |
SB 166 (Skinner) No Net Loss Requires a city or county to identify additional low-income housing sites in their housing element when market- rate housing is developed on a site currently identified for low-income housing. View projected milestones |
| Amends Existing Reporting Requirements |
AB 879 (Grayson) and related reporting bills Make various updates to housing element and annual report requirements to provide data on local implementation including number of project application and approvals, processing times, and approval processes. Charter cities would no longer be exempt from housing reporting. Requires HCD to deliver a report to the Legislature on how local fees impact the cost of housing development. View projected milestones View FAQ for AB 879. |
| Create and Preserve Affordable Housing | |
| Ongoing Source | SB 2 (Atkins) Building Jobs and Homes Act Imposes a fee on recording of real estate documents excluding sales for the purposes of funding affordable housing. Provides that first year proceeds will be split evenly between local planning grants and HCD’s programs that address homelessness. Thereafter, 70 percent of the proceeds will be allocated to local governments in either an over-the-counter or competitive process. Fifteen percent will be allocated to HCD, ten percent to assist the development of farmworker housing and five percent to administer a program to incentivize the permitting of affordable housing. Fifteen percent will be allocated to CalHFA to assist mixed-income multifamily developments. SB 2 Planning Grant Draft Guidelines (PDF) View projected milestones View FAQs for SB 2. |
| Affordable Housing Bond | SB 3 (Beall) Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act Places a $4 billion general obligation bond on the November 2018 general election ballot. Allocates $3 billion in bond proceeds among programs that assist affordable multifamily developments, housing for farmworkers, transit-oriented development, infrastructure for infill development, and homeownership. Also funds matching grants for Local Housing Trust Funds and homeownership programs. Provides $1 billion in bond proceeds to CalVet for home and farm purchase assistance for veterans. View projected milestones View FAQ for SB 3. |
| Land Use: Zoning Regulations |
AB 1505 (Bloom) Inclusionary Ordinances Authorizes the legislative body of a city or county to require a certain amount of low-income housing on-site or off-site as a condition of the development of residential rental units. View projected milestones |
| Amends Preservation Noticing law |
AB 1521 (Bloom) Preserve the Existing Affordable Housing Stock Requires the seller of a subsidized housing development to accept a bona-fide offer to purchase from a qualified purchaser, if specified requirements are met. Gives HCD additional tracking and enforcement responsibilities to ensure compliance. View projected milestones |
| Amends Farmworker Housing and Office of Migrant Services Programs |
AB 571 (E. Garcia) Low Income Housing Credits for Farmworkers Makes modifications to the state’s farmworker housing tax credit to increase use. Authorizes HCD to advance funds to operators of migrant housing centers at the beginning of each season to allow them to get up and running. Extends the period of time that migrant housing centers may be occupied to 275 days, View projected milestones |
Video Updates on the Housing Package (by HCD Director Ben Metcalf)
October 2, 2018 – One Year After the State's Housing
Package: How is California a Different Place?
Stay in the know as the laws in the Housing Package are implemented. These short 2-5 minute videos by HCD Director Ben Metcalf highlight important updates and key releases. Sign-up to receive future emails and videos on California’s 2017 Housing Package.
- October 2, 2018 – One Year After the State's Housing Package: How is California a Different Place? (YouTube)
- August 8, 2018 – New Accountability & Enforcement Process to Ensure Cities & Counties Meet Their Housing Needs (YouTube)
- June 21, 2018 – Interactive Maps Showing Cities/Counties Subject to Streamlined Housing Development (YouTube)
- April 25, 2018 – Why Submit Annual Progress Reports? (YouTube)
- March 27, 2018 – Fast-tracked Approvals Set Stage for Safe, Affordable, Stable Housing in Berkeley (YouTube)
Wanted: Your Input!
Help Shape the Implementation
Success of the 2017 Housing Package can only be achieved with input from a broad array of stakeholders. We need your on-the-ground experience and expertise to shape how these new laws are implemented – from updating existing programs and guidelines to shaping new programs and leveraging new, opportunities that streamline development and ensure compliance with state housing laws.
Our outreach efforts will continue to evolve in order to ensure we're engaging a varied range of stakeholders, including advocates, city and county staff, public interest groups, developers, homeless service providers, health and mental-health professionals, and many others.
We will host listening sessions, workshops, regional convenings, webinars, and more.
Sign up to receive email about the 2017 California Housing Package. In addition to other updates, we'll notify you every time we post new engagement opportunities on this page — from in-person convenings to webinars to public comment periods on framing papers, draft guidelines, and more. Additionally, you can email us with your thoughts and ideas at CAHP@hcd.ca.gov.
Projected Milestones
| BILL(S) | ACTIVITIES & MILESTONES | TARGET DATES |
|---|---|---|
| Funding from 2018 Revenues Collected Between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 | ||
| SB 2 (Atkins) Building Jobs and Homes Act | Planning Grants (50% of Funds) Initiate Public Outreach Provision of Planning Technical Assistance Development of Guidelines Public Release of Final Guidelines (PDF) Release of Notice of Funding Availability(NOFA) from California Emergency Solutions and Housing (CESH) program Homelessness Grants (50% of Funds) Release of Initial Notice of Funding Availability Release of Notice of Funding Availability(NOFA) from California Emergency Solutions and Housing (CESH) program Release of NOFA from Housing for a Healthy California (HHC) program |
Spring 2018 Ongoing Summer/Fall 2018 January 2019 Spring 2019 Summer 2018 Spring 2019 Spring 2019 |
| Funding from Revenues Collected Between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2019 and Every Calendar Year Thereafter | ||
| SB 2 (Atkins) Building Jobs and Homes Act | Local Funds (70% of Annual Total) Initiate Public Outreach Development of Guidelines Release of Notice of Funding Availability Production Incentive Program (5% of Annual Total) Development of Guidelines Release of Notice of Funding Availability Farmworker Funds (10% of Annual Total) Initiate Public Outreach Development of Guidelines Release of Notice of Funding Availability Mixed-Income Program — Administered by CalHFA (15% of Annual Total) Initiate Public Outreach Development of Guidelines Release of Notice of Funding Availability |
Fall 2018 Spring/Summer 2019 Summer 2019 Spring/Fall 2019 Spring 2020 Winter 2018/2019 Summer/Fall 2019 Winter 2019/2020 Summer 2018 Fall 2018 Spring 2019 |
| Funding Approved by Voters in November 2018 | ||
| SB 3 (Beall) Veterans and Affordable Housing Bond Act |
Release of Notice of Funding Availability for Multifamily Housing Program (MHP) Release of Notices of Funding Availability for CalHome program |
Spring 2019 Summer 2019 |
| Other Funding Related Legislation | ||
| AB 571 (E. Garcia) Low-IIncome Housing Credits for Farmworkers | Guidance Activities To Be Determined | TBD |
| Streamlined Ministerial Approval Process | ||
| SB 35 (Streamlined Ministerial Approval Process) |
Preliminary Housing Element Annual Progress Report Data Release Publish Jurisdiction Eligibility Lists Initiate Public Outreach Development of Guidelines Public Release of Final Guidelines (PDF) |
November 2017 January, June, and December 2018 Spring 2018 Summer/Fall 2018 November 2018 |
| SB 540 (Workforce Housing Overlay) |
Development of Guidelines Notice of Funding Availability |
Summer 2019 TBD |
| AB 73 (Sustainability Districts) |
Annual Report to Legislature Development of Guidelines Notice of Funding Availability |
November 2018 Summer 2019 TBD |
| Accountability | ||
| AB 1397 (Housing Elements) |
Developement of Technical Assistance Memo | Winter 2018/2019 |
| AB 879 (Annual Progress Reports) |
Initiate Public Outreach Development of New APR Forms and Instructions for an Effective Date of April 1, 2019 |
Spring 2018 Winter 2018/2019 |
| AB 879 (Fee Study) |
Initiate Public Outreach on Scoping Commencement of Study Release of Final Report |
Spring 2018 Summer 2018 Summer 2019 |
| SB 166 (No-Net-Loss) |
Development of Technical Assistance Memo | Winter 2018/2019 |
| AB 1521 (Preserving Noticing Requirements) |
Initiate Public Outreach Creation of Guidance and Forms Begin Collection of Information Report due to the Legislature |
Spring 2018 Winter 2018/2019 Fall 2018 Spring 2019 |
| AB 678, SB 167, AB 1515 (Housing Accountability Act) |
Develpment of Technical Assistance Memo | Winter 2018/2019 |
| AB 72 (Housing Accountability Act) |
Accountability & Enforcement Webpage | June 2018 |
| AB 1505 (Inclusionary Ordinances) |
Development of Technical Assistance Memo | Winter 2018/2019 |