This week in affordable housing news…:

State Update:

• HCD accused the City of San Francisco of maintaining “egregious” barriers to housing production that are adding at least 10 months to the city’s construction timelines over the next slowest jurisdiction, according to a scathing, first-of-its-kind report released by the state housing department this week. “It is egregious, the enormous amount of constraints and barriers they impose on new housing development,” HCD director Gustavo Velasquez told the New York Times. The HCD review, part of the state’s expanding enforcement of housing laws, found it takes 523 days on average for a developer to get the initial go-ahead to build housing in San Francisco; after that, it takes another 605 days to get a building permit. With San Francisco setting a goal of producing at least 82,000 new housing units over the next decade, HCD’s report outlines 28 actions the city must take to bring its local policies into alignment with state law—and avoid “additional enforcement action”—including eliminating discretionary review, reforming CEQA practices, and expediting post-entitlement permitting.

• “California will have to spend $18 billion a year—about what we spend on prisons—over the next decade to build the 1.2 million homes necessary to meet urgent housing needs,” Housing California’s Chione Flegal and the Unity Council’s Chris Iglesias argue in a new Sacramento Bee oped. While the state has ramped up support for affordable housing in recent years and a wave of legislation this year will help accelerate affordable development, current funding reflects only a fraction of this need. “Scaling up will take creativity and courage,” the authors say, highlighting a number of recommendations from a budget framework submitted to legislative leaders by CHC and our partners. These include expanded general fund investments, adopting new revenue measures to support housing and homelessness programs, and supporting several measures on the ballot next year—a mental health bond, a statewide housing bond, and a constitutional amendment lowering vote thresholds for local bond campaigns.

ICYMI – Top news stories:

‘Mansion tax’ prevails in court as judge dismisses lawsuit challenging Measure ULA
Los Angeles Times
An L.A. County judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging L.A.’s “mansion tax” on Tuesday, marking the end of a months-long legal challenge from the luxury real estate community that looked to declare the measure unconstitutional. The transfer tax known as Measure ULA was passed in November and took effect April 1, bringing a 4% charge on all residential and commercial real estate sales in the city above $5 million and a 5.5% charge on sales above $10 million, pumping millions into housing and homelessness-prevention efforts. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge officially dismissed the lawsuit on Tuesday, according to court documents. The ruling is a big win for housing activists, who say that L.A. desperately needs the money raised by the tax.

How the 60 housing bills Newsom signed are going to change California               
San Francisco Chronicle
From enforcing tenant protections to making it possible to build faster and taller, California’s 2023 legislative housing package was the largest yet, with over 60 housing bills signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom. Many of this year’s bills build on previous legislation, expanding the impact and reach of those laws. Others took successful local programs and brought them statewide. It can take a few years to see the full effect of legislation because it takes time for tenants to learn how to defend their new rights, and builders and funders to test projects to learn how to best use new opportunities. If these bills realize their potential, however, 2023 may be seen as the year that California truly turns the corner on the housing crisis.

Wealthy Coronado agrees to support more affordable housing after state pressure
Los Angeles Times
After more than two years of resistance, the city of Coronado, a wealthy island city in San Diego County, has agreed to follow a state affordable housing law by setting aside more land for development, Gov. Gavin Newsom and Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta announced. In a legal settlement with the state, the city will allow for the construction of more than 900 homes, more than 70% of which should be accessible to low- and moderate-income families. “There’s no question that this moment is long overdue—I want to thank the current Coronado City Council for finally doing the right thing,” Bonta said in a news release. “The housing crisis we are facing in California is enormous, and the only way we can tackle it is if every local government follows the law and builds its fair share of housing.”