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 | Green Buildings | Implement the State’s CalGreen building codes to promote climate protection strategies. Promote green building and energy conservation on City website and through brochures. | The City continues to implement the California Green Building Codes and promote green building and energy conservation. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-1.3a | Reduce energy usage in existing buildings | The City continues to promote various utility assistance programs and other related programs on the website. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-2.1a | Preserve assisted housing stock | In 2022, the city prepared a Draft Housing Element City that identified a number of units at-risk of conversion to market rate units, and policies/programs aimed at reducing the risk and alerting tenants in response. | Contact the owners of at-risk properties on an annual basis | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Mortgage Credit Certificate | Continue to provide information and promote the MCC program. The City will also continue to make available brochures of housing programs available and provide information about the program on the City’s website. | The City continues to refer interested households to the County's MCC program. Information on the MCC program is on the City’s website. | 2015-2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Shared Housing Program | Continue to provide assistance for shared housing services to single-parent households, and extremely low, very low and low income populations (if available). | The City’s website includes a link to Catholic Charities’ shared housing program. | Contact cities and service agencies in 2015 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Homeless Assistance/ Shelter Provisions | Continue to provide support to area homeless shelters and service providers to serve extremely low and very low income populations (as resources are available). | Each year the City contributes funds to the homeless count. The City’s website includes a link to homeless services. | 2015-2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Inclusionary Housing Ordinance Implementation | Continue to implement inclusionary housing ordinance requirements for all new projects as required by City Ordinance. | The City continues to implement the Inclusionary Ordinance. | 2015-2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Citywide Inclusionary Housing Ordinance Amendments | Evaluate the appropriateness of amending the Ordinance to provide more flexibility and to ensure that the Inclusionary Housing Ordinance and the City’s Density Bonus provisions are integrated in a manner consistent with State Law and recent court decisions. | In 2019, the City updated the Inclusionary Ordinance to clarify that the definition of "residential project" is exclusive of any proposed accessory dwelling units. | 2015-2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-6.2a | Assist in settling disputes/issues between tenants and landlords | The City continues to offer rent mediation through the ordinance. Brochures are available at City Hall. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Preservation of Assisted Housing | Monitor at-risk units. The City will maintain contact with the owners of the at-risk properties (those with Section 8 vouchers), and provide financial (if available) or other assistance as necessary to maintain the affordability of these at risk units. | In 2022, the city prepared a Draft Housing Element City that identified a number of units at-risk of conversion to market rate units, and policies/programs aimed at reducing the risk and alerting tenants in response. | Contact the owners of at-risk properties on an annual basis | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-2.3b | Prevent home foreclosures | The City provides information on foreclosure counseling on the website. | 2015-2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-2.4b | Coordinate efforts with Silicon Valley jurisdictions and service providers to assist the homeless | Each year the City contributes funds to the homeless count. The City’s website includes a link to homeless services. | 2015-2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Mixed-Use Development | Continue to allow and promote residential uses in conjunction with commercial and/or office uses in mixed use developments. | The City continues to allow residential uses in mixed-use projects. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-4.3a | Promote compact development by encouraging properties to develop to General Plan densities | The City continues to encourage developers to meet minimum density thresholds. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-5.2a | Provide density bonuses and other incentives to facilitate affordable housing development | The City continues to offer and promote the density bonus program. In 2021 the City approved a density bonus for a mixed-use housing development located at 2575 & 2585 S. Winchester Boulevard. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Density Bonus | Continue to offer density bonus and/or regulatory incentives/ concessions to facilitate the development of affordable and/or senior housing. Advertise density bonus provisions on the City website. | The City continues to offer and promote the density bonus program. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-5.3a | Facilitate development of secondary dwelling units | In 2022, the city updates its educational ADU summary sheet, and amended Chapter 21.23 (Accessory Dwelling Units) to faciliate the construction of new secondary dwelling units. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program | The City will continue to inform residents about the County’s Housing Rehabilitation Loan Program. | Staff refers low-income households to Santa Clara County's Single Family Housing Rehabilitation Loan/Grant Program to help finance qualifying home repairs using the Santa Clara County (SCC) revolving loan fund. | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | Code Enforcement | The City will continue to administer the Code Enforcement Program. The Code Enforcement Officer will identify housing units (including ownership and rental units in single- and multi-family buildings) that could qualify for rehabilitation assistance. | The Code Enforcement officer continues to provide info to the public on rehab assistance (e.g., Rebuilding Together and the Rehab loan/grant program). | 2015 to 2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |
| 2022 | H-2.1b | Preserve mobile home park dwelling units | Chapter 6.09 continues to apply to Mobile Home rental units. | 2015-2023 | 5th cycle, 2013 to 2022 |