Housing Leadership Designation

SB 1216 will create a new housing leadership designation to recognize and reward cities and counties that demonstrate measurable success in building new homes.

Existing state law provides incentives to cities and counties to adopt policies, such as zoning reform and permit streamlining, that make it easier to build more homes.  Jurisdictions that take advantage of these incentives receive higher preference in competitive state funding programs. But the incentives apply when jurisdictions plan for new homes – not when the homes actually get built.

SB 1216 creates a new housing leadership designation that rewards cities and counties whose reforms lead to new home construction. The bill would require the Department of Housing and Community Development to designate local jurisdictions as “housing leaders” if they meet specific home building targets, with the threshold determined by the local housing affordability level. The bill would provide designated “housing leaders” with greater flexibility under existing state housing laws.

Updates

  • SB 1216 was introduced in the Senate on February 20, 2026.

Author

  • Christopher Cabaldon (SD 3)

Sponsor

  • California YIMBY

Resources