Dive Brief:
- There are 39,880 affordable homes in California across 461 developments that are ready to begin construction but are stalled due to a lack of public funding, according to a recent analysis by Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that advocates for increased housing availability.
- That housing, which would benefit an estimated 432,050 low-income households over the next half century, requires more state support to move forward, including $2.3 billion in state subsidies, $1.8 billion in state tax credits and $5.8 billion in tax-exempt bonds, according to Enterprise.
- Every dollar of state funds invested in affordable rental developments leverages approximately $3.60 of local, federal and private funds, per Enterprise.
Dive Insight:
In the midst of a housing affordability crisis, California lawmakers have spent the past few years retooling state regulations to boost construction. Last year, they passed multiple bills designed to speed up approval processes and cut red tape.
The developments cited in the Enterprise report are all “shovel-ready” and have gone through the local community engagement and design process. Most have also secured local land use approvals and applied for or secured local, state or federal funds.
Enterprise recommended allocating more money in the state’s 2026-2027 budget, which currently does not include any new funding for the state’s core affordable housing production subsidy programs or state tax credits, according to Enterprise.
“Without General Fund investment, coupled with cuts to affordable housing programs from the last three budget cycles, most affordable housing developments in the Pipeline will not be able to move forward and begin construction,” the report states.
The organization also called for passing the state’s pending $10 billion 2026 Affordable Housing Bond Act.
“With previous funds nearly exhausted, a new bond would allow California to fund developments in the pipeline for new production as well as for preservation,” according to the report.
