California governor signs into law measure to fight housing crisis

Start of construction on a housing estate called 3 Roots by Lennar in San Diego, California, USA June 3, 2021 REUTERS / Mike Blake

Sept. 16 (Reuters) – California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed law aimed at tackling the state’s housing crisis by expanding housing production and streamlining housing permits.

Newsom’s office said Thursday that California will pour $ 1.75 billion into a new California Housing Accelerator that it claimed will accelerate construction of 6,500 affordable apartment buildings that have stalled due to a lack of tax-exempt bonds and low-income housing taxes Loans.

“Governor Newsom’s California Comeback Plan will result in over 84,000 new homes and exits, including today’s announcement of $ 1.75 billion in affordable housing finance for the new California Housing Accelerator,” said a statement of his office.

The average home price in California rose 144% to $ 591,866 between 2000 and 2019, according to data from the California Association of Realtors, quoted in the Wall Street Journal.

Some of the measures Newsom has signed into law include Senate Draft 9, also known as the California Housing Opportunity and More Efficiency (HOME) Act, which would make it easier to build additional housing in areas that are only intended for single-family homes.

Newsom also signed Senate Bill 10, which addresses the zoning issue. Local administrations can use SB 10 to access an optimized zoning process for new apartment buildings near thoroughfares or in urban areas with up to 10 units per parcel. The legislation also eases the need to undergo the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process.

The bill was signed two days after Newsom easily beaten back a Republican campaign to oust him and scored an overwhelming victory in a special election. Continue reading

California risked an escalating spiral of wildfire disasters and rising housing costs if it didn’t fully remodel post-fire reconstruction and find ways to prevent construction in high-risk areas, according to a study published in June. Continue reading

The study by the Berkeley Center for Community Innovation at the University of California and the research institute Next 10 also warned of an impending insurance crisis if no legislative changes were made.

It is more expensive to build in established communities that are largely protected from forest fires, so developers continue to dig into dry, hilly terrain that is more affordable.

Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Bengaluru; Arrangement by Michael Perry

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