The Housing Element is a chapter in every General Plan.
Every city, town and county has a General Plan guiding all the ways they are planned and managed, from roads and sidewalks to parks and neighborhoods.
One very important chapter of the General Plan is the Housing Element – the plan for all housing needed in a community. Local governments don’t build housing, they do create the rules that shape where housing can be built, what types and how much, and all this lives in the Housing Element. They are required by state law to be updated every 8 years.
The heart of a Housing Element is a suite of policies and programs that address the housing needs of all types of households and income levels, both existing and projected ones.
RHNA is a target number of housing to plan for in every community.
Before a Housing Element is updated, the state provides a target for how many homes to plan for in every city, town and county that is required by state law.
They look at several factors like how many jobs there are, how close people live to their jobs and schools, population, and how many new jobs and people we are expecting. It can help to think of it as:
the number of housing we need, minus the housing number we have, equals the number of homes we plan for.
They then assign each region a target number of how much housing to plan for called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation or RHNA (pronounced ‘ree-nah’). It is then up to our region, and in our case, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) to decide how much of the regional need should be met by each city, town and county, based on their size, their jobs and how they are expected to grow by 2050, according to Plan Bay Area. To learn more about how they did this, visit here.
Almost all cities in the Bay Area have a significantly higher target this RHNA cycle than in the past.
A lot goes into developing a Housing Element.
Over the next year, cities, towns and counties will want to hear from community members about what they need, their concerns, what they love and want more of, and their thoughts on specific questions.
Several studies and analyses will also happen, like how much housing there is now, population and jobs, any issues that will make housing in certain areas hard to develop, and a review of existing goals, policies and programs. The target RHNA number will be kept in mind.
There will also be new considerations for fair housing laws – to address discrimination and segregation in housing – and environmental justice – to reduce health risks and address the needs of disadvantaged communities.
Policies and programs will then be developed, followed by a Draft Housing Element.
A Final Housing Element has to be approved by the State.
Once a Draft Housing Element is ready, it will be released for public review and discussed at community, Council, and Commission meetings. Once a final Housing Element is ready, it will be adopted locally and submitted to the state for certification in compliance with state housing laws.
After it is certified it will then be a part of the General Plan – informing the housing policy and programs in your city or town over the next 8 years.
While there is now a plan to meet the target RHNA number, remember that because cities and towns do not built housing themselves, there is no guarantee all the housing planned for will be built. That will be up to the market. However, the Housing Element will ensure it is possible and create a path forward for housing to be built.
Housing Element Updates are required by State law.
Cities, towns and counties are required to develop a housing plan that meets or exceeds state law.
There are big consequences to jurisdictions that don’t submit a Housing Element update that complies with state law. This can include paying monthly fines and fees and being disqualified from state grants, as well as having a court issue an order mandating that the jurisdiction complies anyway. A court could also remove the ability of a city, town or county to make their own land-use decisions, require the inclusion of affordable units and/or enforce a moratorium on all permits until compliance has been met.
