Plain English Breakdown
The official source confirms the bill passed both chambers but does not list an effective date, leaving uncertainty about exactly when it takes effect.
Counting Student Housing Toward Local Housing Goals
This law requires cities and counties to count certain types of student housing toward their required number of lower-income homes, even if the buildings do not have final permits yet.
What This Bill Does
- Requires specific student housing units built in a city or county to count toward that area's share of regional low-income housing needs.
- Allows these student housing units to be counted regardless of whether they have completed entitlements, building permits, or certificates of occupancy.
- Directs the Department of Housing and Community Development to include this data when tracking local progress on housing goals.
- Mandates that annual reports submitted by April 1 must list the number of these student units built so far in the current planning cycle.
- Requires the report to show which income category each type of student housing satisfies based on area median income.
Who It Names or Affects
- Cities, counties, and city-counties that prepare general plans with housing elements.
- The Department of Housing and Community Development, which determines eligible units and tracks progress.
- Local planning agencies responsible for submitting annual reports by April 1.
Terms To Know
- Regional Housing Needs Allocation
- The specific number of homes a city or county must plan to build based on its share of the region's total housing need.
- Certificate of Occupancy
- A document issued by local officials stating that a building is safe and ready for people to live in.
- Area Median Income
- The middle point of income levels in a specific area, used to define which housing units are considered low-income.
Limits and Unknowns
- The Department of Housing and Community Development decides exactly which types of student housing quarters qualify for this count.
- This law states that no state reimbursement is required for the costs local agencies face to follow these new reporting rules.
- The text does not specify a start date or effective date for when these changes begin.