A Landmark Year for New Housing Affordability Laws in California. Here’s What Assembly Democrats Delivered.

SACRAMENTO — Californians have spoken loud and clear, time and again, that building housing faster and lowering the cost of rents and mortgages is their No. 1 priority. And this legislative session, Speaker Robert Rivas and Assembly Democrats declared it the “Year of Housing,” moving fast to deliver solutions: the most impactful and transformative new housing affordability laws in a generation, which will lead to homes going-up faster, with more housing options closer to peoples’ jobs, in the metro areas and cities where residents want to live.

This summer, the Legislature passed many historic new laws, and Newsom also inked dozens during the past month, delivering real results that will alter the trajectory of California’s housing crisis. 

These laws reflect the Assembly’s strong focus to move beyond the status quo this legislative session, passing consequential housing and infrastructure reforms that failed in previous years. This includes landmark reforms to CEQA regulations that:

• Streamline environmental review to speed-up housing and infrastructure projects
• Expedite permitting and approval processes, especially in higher-cost areas
• Stabilize costs by freezing new residential building standards through 2031

Solutions that Build Homes Faster and Improve Affordability

Speaker Rivas and Assemblymembers authored several new laws that make it easier and less expensive for Californians to build — and ultimately achieve — more affordable housing.

• Assembly Bill 253 (Ward, Rivas) significantly speeds up the approval process for building homes. This bill improves project approval time by empowering homeowners and developers to use licensed third-party professionals for plan checks when local agencies exceed 30-day review windows, speeding up the building process for small-scale housing.
• Assembly Bill 301 (Schiavo, Rivas) makes sure there is government accountability to hit deadlines and approve new construction on time. The bill holds state agencies accountable by requiring state departments reviewing post-entitlement housing permits to meet the same deadlines already imposed on local agencies.
• Assembly Bill 462 (Lowenthal, Rivas) will lead to more “ADU” units in backyards and on properties. This bill expedites the development of accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, in the Coastal Zone to increase the availability of housing in high cost areas.

Changing Course on Housing Affordability

The Governor has signed the following Assembly bills and they will soon be new laws, making significant progress to build homes faster, cut red tape and increase lower-cost housing options for all Californians:

• Assembly Bill 507 (Haney) incentivizes the conversion of underused non-residential buildings, especially office spaces, into residential and mixed-use housing.
• Assembly Bill 1021 (Wicks) streamlines the process for local educational agencies (LEAs) to build affordable housing on their own property to address teacher and staff shortages.
• Assembly Bill 457 (Soria) streamlines approvals for larger farmworker housing in the Central Valley.
• Assembly Bill 87 (Boerner) ensures that Density Bonus Law is used primarily on building residential units instead of high-rise hotels.
• Assembly Bill 36 (Soria) promotes effective local solutions that streamline the development of prohousing communities.
• Assembly Bill 480 (Quirk-Silva) amends the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to increase the financial impact of the credits.
• Assembly Bill 610 (Alvarez) prohibits local governments from implementing new or stricter regulatory constraints on housing developments, unless included in the previous constraints analysis.
• Assembly Bill 712 (Wicks) strengthens enforcement of housing laws by empowering courts to impose fines on local agencies that violate them.
• Assembly Bill 893 (Fong) streamlines approval of housing projects within a half-mile radius of public colleges and universities by creating "campus development zones".
• Assembly Bill 920 (Caloza) requires larger cities and counties to implement a centralized online portal for permits.
• Assembly Bill 1007 (Rubio) expedites timelines for approval or disapproval by a public agency acting as the “responsible agency" for residential and mixed-use development projects.
• Assembly Bill 1050 (Schultz) allows commercial properties to include residential units and utilize an existing legal process to remove restrictive covenants.
• Assembly Bill 1061 (Quirk-Silva) allows lot splits and duplexes in historic districts, as long as projects do not demolish existing historic structures.
• Assembly Bill 1154 (Carrillo) brings parity between small Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs), to increase the state’s housing supply.
• Assembly Bill 1257 (Elhawary) strengthens future housing plans by ensuring housing and transportation systems are working together.
• Assembly Bill 1296 (Bonta) uses underutilized property owned by school districts for affordable housing.

READ: Housing Affordability is Speaker Rivas’ Top Priority for 2025 and Here is How We Delivered

The housing affordability reforms passed this year mark a turning point in California. With faster approvals, stronger investments and fewer barriers to building, Democrats in the Assembly are delivering the bold action Californians have been demanding to lower costs and expand housing options. 

The Assembly has laid the groundwork for lasting change, and remains committed to advancing policies that make our state more affordable, more livable, and more equitable for all Californians.

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Instagram: @caspeakerrivas

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