Housing policies and programs are the strategies and laws that cities and counties legally have at their disposal to produce more and preserve existing affordable housing, as well as protect existing residents from getting displaced from their homes and communities.
Local housing policies and programs, as part of a housing element, have significant impacts on a city or county reaching its affordable housing goals. Each additional housing policy has a significant impact on the residents who are most in need of affordable housing. However, the number of policies or programs that a jurisdiction includes in their housing element is not meant to imply how well a city or county is addressing local housing needs since the quality and impact of each will need to be determined as well. Policies and programs listed here from jurisdictions’ Housing Elements are intended to allow readers to review the text themselves and see if a city or county is doing all they can to reach their affordable housing goals.
To further policy innovation and local action, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) contacted all of the region's jurisdictions to track the adoption of key housing policies throughout the nine county Bay Area in four major categories Protect, Preserve, Produce, and Prevent. This data is from ABAG’s Policies and Program list and was last updated in 2018/2019.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development tracks all of the ongoing and completed programs from 2018 onward and can be seen in the table below.
YEAR | PROGRAM NAME | PROGRAM OBJECTIVE | STATUS | ACCOMPLISHED DATE | HOUSING CYCLE |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Sec. 3.621 Second Dwelling Unit (ADU) Program | 40 new Extremely Low to Moderate Income units | 18 ADU's constructed and an additional XX ADU's entitled in 2022. A total of 133 ADU's have been constructed since 2015. Objective met and exceeded. | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2022 | Sec. 3.651 Housing Opportunities for handicapped and low and moderate income and homeless | Enforce UBC regulations for handicapped
access | On-going program | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2022 | Sec. 3.661 Meeting the
needs of seniors | Enforce UBC regulations for handicapped access, support conservation of senior housing | On-going program | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2022 | Sec. 3.641 Facilitate and expidite the rehabilitation and conservation of existing units | On-going and permit issuance | 107 permits were issued in 2022 for improvement, rehabilitation and conservation of housing units. | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2022 | Sec. 3.631 Faculty and Student Housing Program | 27 new faculty units and 63 new student housing units in extremely low to moderate income ranges | 288 unit residence hall constructed on Menlo College campus; new student housing goal exceeded. | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2022 | Sec. 3.612 Market Rate Housing Construction | 3 new Above Market Rate units | 1 net new unit constructed this year; objective not met for 2022, however, objective has been exceeded for this housing cycle. | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2022 | 3.671 Nondiscrimination in housing | Eliminate discrimination in housing to the extent feasible through Town actions | On-going program | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2021 | Sec. 3.641 Continue to facilitate and expidite the rehabilitation and conservation of existing units | On-going permit issuance | Over 100 permits issued this year for improvement, rehabilitation and conservation of existing units. | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2021 | Sec. 3.621 Second Dwelling Unit (ADU) Program | 40 new Moderate to Extremely Low Income Units | Thirty ADU's constructed and an additional 22 ADU's entitled in 2021. A total of 115 ADU's have been constructed since 2015 and an additional 22 ADU's entitled in 2021. Objective met and exceeded. | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2021 | Sec. 3.612 Market Rate Housing Construction | 3 new Above Market units | One net new unit constructed this year. Objective met and exceeded. | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2021 | Sec. 3.671 Non-discrimination in housing | Eliminate discrimination in housing to the extent feasible through Town actions | On-going program | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2021 | Sec. 3.651 Housing Opportunities for handicapped and low and moderate income and homeless | Enforce UBC regulations for handicapped access | On-going program | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2021 | Sec. 3.631 Faculty and Student Housing Program | 27 new faculty units and 63 new student housing units in extremely low to moderated income ranges | Market failed to construct any faculty or student units during this year. | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
2021 | Sec. 3.661 Meeting the needs of seniors | Enforce UBC regulations for handicapped access, support conservation of senior housing | On-going program | 2015-22 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |