Home builders in California face a barrage of financial challenges, from exorbitant local development fees to high interest rates and rising labor and materials costs. Local development fees, including impact fees, services fees, and in-lieu fees, can reach $150,000 per…
SB 1211
Recent state reforms that make it faster, cheaper, and easier for homeowners to build Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), also known as “granny flats,” have led to a boom in their construction, with over 80,000 ADUs built in the last seven…
AB 1820
The fees that local jurisdictions in California charge when they permit new housing developments are variable, unpredictable, and often punitively high; not only do fees vary from city to city, but even from project to project. These development fees, impact…
SB 312
In 2022, the California State Legislature passed SB 886 (Wiener) to help resolve the extreme shortage of housing available on California university campuses and in their surrounding communities. SB 886 allows streamlined approval for student housing that meets the highest…
AB 2580
Historic preservation plays a vital role in protecting California’s architectural heritage and conserving places of historical significance. Historic districts, and buildings designated as “historically significant,” receive special protections that subject new developments, building renovations, and design changes to a more…
AB 3057
AB 3057 is a technical fix to existing law that will grant local Junior ADU ordinances the same exemption to environmental review that is already granted to standard ADU ordinances. Thanks to state efforts to increase housing production and address…
SB 1123
SB 1123 (Caballero) updates SB 684 (2023) to make it legal to build up to 10 homes on vacant lots in single-family zones near jobs, schools, transit, and other amenities, by streamlining the approval process for these projects. Passed in…
SB 1210
When a new housing project is being completed, the developer must pay fees to cover the cost of connecting to local utilities, like water, sewer, gas, and electric. These utility fees are a normal part of the homebuilding process. But…
SB 1470
Historically, ownership condominiums have played a major role in providing affordable “starter homes” for first-time homebuyers. Condominiums are on average 2.7 times less expensive than a typical, single-family home. But current legal practices in settling disputes over construction defects in…
SB 1462
Condominiums have historically provided more affordable starter-homes for first-time homebuyers, but some aspects of state law make it difficult to finance condo projects, discouraging their construction. SB 1462 will allow condo developers to use deposits made by buyers during the…