New Pathways to Encourage Housing Production: A Review of California’s Recent Housing Legislation (2023)

This Terner Center Brief reflects on municipal planner’s experience with the new suite of laws that have been enacted since 2016 to spur housing development in California.

Key insights:

The brief provides an overview of new planning, zoning and permitting legislation in the State of California since 2017, including:

• The introduction of higher municipal housing targets
• Requirements to rezone exclusionary neighbourhoods
• Infill supportive legislation including density bonuses and policies enabling ADU development.

This insightful brief from the Terner Center for Housing Innovation was crafted by Bill Fulton, Terner Fellow; David Garcia, Policy Director; Ben Metcalf, Managing Director; Carolina Reid, Faculty Research Advisor; and Truman Braslaw, Graduate Student Researcher.