California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed 27 housing-related bills this week, aimed at both tackling the state’s housing crisis and increasing California’s housing supply.
Having called the housing crisis the state’s “number one pre-exisiting condition,” Newsom signed the bills while visiting Oakland’s Coliseum Connections — a 110-unit, half affordable, half market-rate apartment complex built, according to the Mercury News.
Of the bills signed into law, SB 791 creates the California Surplus Land Unit. The division will help local city councils, county boards of supervisors and school districts turn their unused government-owned land into housing. SB 290 gives developers incentives to build affordable units for low-income college students.
Additionally, AB 1466 will help eliminate language that was put in place in the Jim Crow-era that would keep neighborhoods segregated. AB 602 aims to make it more affordable to create housing by changing the way in which cities charge developers fees to build.
Additionally, the Governor announced the launch of a $100 million grant program for low- to moderate-income homeowners to build accessory dwelling units on their property. The California Housing Finance Agency’s (CalHFA) ADU Financing Program will provide as much as $25,000 in assistance to income-qualified homeowners, which is expected to produce 4,000 units of housing throughout the state.
With the bill suite signing, Newsom also announced creation of a new state Housing Accountability Unit, ensuring cities and counties are following state housing laws and approving enough housing for their populations.
The Governor’s office noted the now 31 housing-related bills are meant to complement the Governor’s $22 billion housing affordability and homelessness package.
For more on the housing bills, click here.