Bringing you updates in legislation, policy, and other news relating to affordable housing, homelessness, sustainable communities, and related issues. | |
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Appropriations Subcommittees Introduce THUD Spending Bills for 2024
by Christina Mun, Chief Strategy Officer | LeSar Holdings, Inc.
The House Committee on Appropriations budget subcommittee released its FY 2024 draft spending bill for Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) in early July, proposing a budget for HUD of $68.2 billion, an increase of roughly 10% over current levels.
The Senate Committee on Appropriations THUD subcommittee followed later in the month with its spending bill, providing $70.6 billion for HUD’s affordable housing, homelessness, and community development programs-- an increase of 13% (or $8.26 billion) over current levels. The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) estimates that HUD needs about $13 billion in additional funding to account for inflation and ensure continuation of existing programs.
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Bill to Expand and Improve Housing Choice Vouchers Reintroduced in the House
by Chul Gugich, Principal | Policy and Legislative Team
A bipartisan bill to remove burdensome regulations and encourage landlord participation in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program was reintroduced in the House of Representatives in July. Called the “Choice in Affordable Housing Act,” the bill would provide $500 million in incentives for landlords, including signing bonuses and security deposit assistance, in addition to funding for public housing authorities that employ dedicated staff to liaison between landlords and tenants. In addition, the bill would reduce barriers, including reducing inspection delays, and allow for a higher number of vouchers to be used across more neighborhoods. A companion bill was introduced in the Senate.
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While Governor Newsom’s CEQA Package Left Out Housing, Legislators are Taking Action
by Craig Adelman, Senior Principal | Housing Team
As reported in the July newsletter - Budget Trailer Bills Include CEQA Reforms for Infrastructure but Not Housing - new laws were adopted this summer to streamline and reform the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for infrastructure projects like solar, wind, and battery storage, and transit and regional rail construction. While there have been efforts in recent years to amend CEQA in a way that promotes new infill residential development while addressing environmental concerns, housing continues to face CEQA challenges that result in increased costs and time to market. Legislative leaders recognize the need for more action and have proposed a number of high-profile bills that would make further reforms to CEQA that remove barriers to housing development. Here we highlight nine CEQA bills that seek to streamline housing approvals that are now being considered in the Legislature.
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Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) Launches Housing Portal
by Christina Mun, Chief Strategy Officer | LeSar Holdings, Inc.
The Bay Area Housing Finance Authority (BAHFA) unveiled a new online housing portal that centralizes housing listings for the nine-county Bay Area, streamlining the process for renters to find affordable housing. Known as “Doorway,” the portal guides apartment seekers through the process of searching for and applying for housing, with filters and a map-based interface to narrow down available options. The portal can be accessed on both desktop and mobile devices, and is available in five languages - English, Spanish, Vietnamese, Chinese, and Tagalog. An exciting new feature is expected to be released in the spring of 2024, enabling renters to immediately determine eligibility for various apartments and to access a common application that allows them to apply for multiple listings directly through the portal.
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Since late 2020, LeSar Development Consultants has collaborated with the California Departments of General Services (DGS) and Housing and Community Development (HCD) on the State’s Excess Sites Program created in response to Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-06-19 that directs the State to convert its appropriate excess real estate holdings into affordable housing.
Read the full media release: Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency and HCD Today Announced $21 Million to Advance Construction of Climate-Smart and Affordable Housing on State-Owned Lands – July 13, 2023
LDC has been honored to play an integral role in developing the program infrastructure, administering and coordinating program management, and contributing its expertise in affordable housing development and finance to the successful implementation of the Governor’s vision. LDC works with DGS and HCD to continue to grow the program to a sustainable scale, screen and assess potential sites for housing, solicit development partners, and aid in financing and other predevelopment activities in a joint effort to achieve to program outcomes. The LDC team looks forward to continued collaboration with our State partners in implementing this innovative strategy to addressing California’s need for more affordable housing.
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Newly Released Studies on Homelessness Provide Solid Data for Policy Makers
The California Budget and Policy Center released an informative report entitled - Who is Experiencing Homelessness in California? - that compiles information from HUD’s Point in Time Count and the California Homeless Data Integration System to provide the public and policymakers critical data about the more than 171,000 Californians who experienced homelessness in early 2022. A follow-up report - Homelessness Among Latinx Californians: An Alarming Increase - was released in July and finds that, since 2020, Latinx homelessness has increased more than three times that of the overall homeless population during the same timeframe.
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Boston University’s Initiative on Cities, along with Cornell University Public Health and the nonprofit Community Solutions, recently released a report - Policing and Punitive Politics of Local Homelessness Policy - that looks at the nation’s 100 largest cities and how they engage police in homeless response, and makes policy recommendations to reduce punitive action. | |
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New Reports Dive into Housing Production and Residential Land Use Issues
Missing middle housing is the subject of a recent research project from Zillow, which looked across 29 metro areas in the United States, finding that residents largely support the inclusion of missing middle homes in residential neighborhoods. A staggering 82% of those surveyed said that they support at least one type of additional housing in their neighborhoods, with the highest support registered for Accessory Dwelling Units.
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Cascadia Partners released a one-year report that shows promising housing production results from the City of Portland’s Residential Infill Project (RIP). Portland’s experience provides a good case study for California cities as they implement SB 9 and SB 10, which allow for more dense residential development on single-family sites.
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In Removing Fiscal Barriers to Housing Production, CA FWD, Council of Governments, and Urban Footprint look at California’s tax system and how it makes building housing less attractive to the State’s localities. The report suggests several State fiscal reforms that could incentivize cities to provide more housing. | |
An informative new report from The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University - Comparison of the Cost Of Manufactured and Site Built Housing - concludes that manufactured housing can offer significant cost savings over traditional stick-built housing of a similar size and with similar amenities, providing an opportunity for increased homeownership opportunities for lower and moderate-income families. | |
WHAT WE'RE READING & LISTENING TO | |
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What Homeless is Really Like - Conversation with Claudine Sipili | Podcast | Slate, July 23, 2023
How Small Wealthy Suburbs Contribute to Regional Housing Problems | Article | The Conversation, July 10, 2023
My House or My Beach? How California’s Housing Crisis to Weaken its Coastal Protections | Article | CalMatters, July 9, 2023
Build Less Housing for Cars and More for People. Two Books on How the Past Can Guide the Future | Article | Los Angeles Times, July 7, 2023
Low-Cost Rentals Have Decreased in Every State | Blog | Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, July 6, 2023
What it Takes to Convert a Multi-Million Dollar Office into Housing | Video | Wall Street Journal, July 2, 2023
American Cities Have a Conversion Problem and It’s Not Just Offices | Article | New York Times, July 1, 2023
National Association of Realtors Housing Shortage Tracker | New Tool
Final FY 23-24 State Budget for Housing and Homelessness | Budget Document
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LeSar Development Consultants works with leaders in creating large-scale, lasting social change through customized consulting services focused on creating physically, economically, and environmentally resilient communities. | |
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