2022 California Housing Legislation Highlights
Latest Update: October 1, 2022
This is the summary for 2022. For past years: 2021, 2020, 2019
11x17 PDFs
March 27, 2022
May 31, 2022
September 9, 2022
October 1, 2022
Wildfires
SB 1292 (Stern) Allows cities to limit development in fire hazard zones & replacing the zoned capacity elsewhere. For every unit of zoned capacity removed from a fire zone, 2 units of capacity must be added elsewhere. — Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2705 (Quirk-Silva) Fire hardening & retrofitting standards. Also provides funding for hardening 300,000 homes in very high fire hazard zones. Passed Assembly 73–0 — Inactive, held in Senate committee.
General Plan Housing Elements
AB 1445 (Levine) Requires fire, sea level rise, evacuation risk to be considered in determining each city’s share of regional housing goals. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 1976 (Santiago) Allows state to fine and rezone cities that don’t zone enough land for apartments. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2339 (Bloom) Unmet housing goals from previous planning cycles are carried over and added to goals of next planning cycle. Also requires cities to allow homeless shelters in more zones. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2653 (Santiago, Wicks) Allows state to reject cities’ housing element annual reports that don’t meet state guidelines. Signed into law by the Governor.
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
SB 897 (Wieckowski) Requires cities to allow 2-story ADUs up to 18' tall near transit or on a lot with multifamily housing, also allows reduction of parking requirements in multifamily buildings where garages are converted into ADUs. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 916 (Salas) Requires cities to allow adding bedrooms without public hearings. (Previously also increased ADU height limit to 18', this was merged into SB897) Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2221 (Quirk-Silva) Cleanup edits of previous ADU laws. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2430 (Grayson) Allow tiny houses on wheels to be used as ADUs. Inactive. Held in Committee
Parking
SB 1067 (Portantino) No parking required for housing if at least 20% of the units are low or moderate income housing or housing for students, the elderly, or persons with disabilities, or if less than 20 units. Applies to sites within 1/2 mile of a major transit stop. Passed Senate 23–8. Held in Assembly committee after this bill was merged with AB2097
AB 2097 (Friedman) No parking needed for housing, businesses, or other development within 1/2 mile of a major transit stop or high quality transit corridor. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2244 (Wicks) Reduction in parking requirements for sites with housing & religious buildings. Signed into law by Governor on July 19, 2022
Zoning
SB 6 (Caballero) Housing in office/retail zones, union labor required. Passed Senate 32–2 in 2021. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2011 (Wicks) Streamlined approval for housing with at least 15% affordable units and prevailing wage, located in commercial zones along major streets. Projects with 50 or more units also to provide apprenticeships and healthcare benefits for workers. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 682 (Bloom) Density bonuses for cohousing with shared kitchens. Note that cohousing in this bill is defined as bedrooms with shared common areas, such as a residential hotel or dorm. Signed into law by the Governor.
SB 1369 (Wieckowski) Conversion of commercial, industrial, and public buildings to housing would be allowed by right in any zone. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 1551 (Santiago) Density bonus for mixed use commercial projects that include affordable housing. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2619 (Patterson) Making it easier to open a residential care facility for more than 6 people. Inactive. Held in Committee
Project Approvals
AB 1952 (Gallagher) Faster approval for projects that receive funding from the state’s Infill Infrastructure Grant Program of 2019. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2218 (Quirk-Silva) Requires people to be living within 20 miles of a infill project site to file a CEQA lawsuit against it. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2234 (Robert Rivas) Faster approval of building permits. Signed into law by the Governor.
Reducing Costs
AB 1056 (Grayson) Program to invest in industrialized housing / modular housing. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2513 (Grayson) State program to reduce construction defect insurance costs. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2063 (Berman) Removes affordable housing impact fees on density bonus units. Inactive. Held in Appropriations.
Homeownership
AB 1837 (Mia Bonta) Helps occupants & nonprofits buy foreclosed homes, limits investor buying. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2013 (Quirk-Silva) State plan to increase homeownership among people of color. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2123 (Villapudua) Housing grants for healthcare workers in areas that have a shortage of healthcare workers. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2166 (Mayes) Sets aside 30% of federal Community Development Block Grant money for helping low & moderate income homebuyers. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2170 (Grayson) Gives current & future occupants & nonprofits priority in buying foreclosed 1–4 unit buildings. Signed into law by the Governor.
Homelessness
SB 513 (Hertzberg) Funding for pet facilities, food, & health at homeless shelters. Passed Senate 36–0. Held in Assembly committee
SB 914 (Rubio) Goal to end homelessness among domestic violence survivors, their children, & unaccompanied women. Signed into law by the Governor
SB 1083 (Skinner) Grants to prevent homelessness for families & pregnant people. Signed into law by the Governor
AB 1685 (Bryan) Waiver of parking fines for people who are homeless, up to $1500 per person per year. Passed Assembly & Senate, vetoed by governor
AB 2011 (Quirk-Silva) Funding for RV parks and subsidies for RV dwellers. Gut and amended into a housing production bill
AB 2325 (Luz Rivas) Interagency coordination to end homelessness. Inactive. Held in Appropriations
AB 2483 (Maienschein) Prioritizing funding for housing that contains at least 25 units for elderly people who are homeless. Also provides assistance for people with disabilities to live in their own homes. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2547 (Nazarian) Grants to prevent homelessness for older adults & people with a disability. Passed Assembly 56–7. Gut and amended in Senate into a bill unrelated to housing.
AB 2623 (Villapudua) Allows exception to Housing First policy to allow sober housing in facilities that have children. Inactive. Held in Committee
Tenant Applications
SB 649 (Cortese) Preference for local residents at risk of displacement in getting spots in affordable housing. Signed into law by the Governor.
SB 1026 (Wieckowski) Energy efficiency disclosure for rental housing. Passed Senate 22–9. Held in Assembly.
SB 1335 (Eggman) No credit checks / credit history reports required for tenants receiving subsidies such as section 8 vouchers. Passed Senate 29–5. Held in Assembly
AB 1816 (Bryan) Re-entry housing for people released from jail or prison, including grants for applicants, incentives for landlords, and rent assistance. Passed Assembly 58–17. Held in Senate committee.
AB1961 (Gabriel) Centralized website for searching for and applying for affordable housing throughout the state.Passed Assembly 76–0. Held in Senate committee.
AB 2203 (Luz Rivas) No credit checks / credit history reports required for tenants receiving subsidies such as section 8 vouchers. Inactive. Held on Assembly floor
AB 2297 (Wicks) Regulations for landlords who offer tenants the option of paying a monthly fee instead of a one-time security deposit. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2383 (Jones-Sawyer) Bans asking about criminal record on initial application. Landlords can still do a follow-up background check and reject applicants based on record. Passed Assembly 43–20. Held in Senate commitee.
AB 2527 (Quirk-Silva) Bans the use of credit checks for the purpose of qualifying for rental housing. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2559 (Ward) Requires landlords to note whether they accept reusable credit / tenant screening reports. Prohibits landlords from charging fees if using the reusable reports. Signed into law by the Governor.
Renaming Things
AB 2503 (Cristina Garcia) Amended to create a commission to study whether to continue to the use of “Landlord” and “tenant” in state laws, or use other words. Signed into law by the Governor.
Tenant Protections
SB 843 (Glazer) Bigger state tax refunds (California Renters Tax Credit) for low income renters. Increases it from $60 to $500 for individuals, from $120 to $1000 for couples and heads of households. Passed Senate 37–0. Held in Assembly committee.
SB 847 (Hurtado) Grants for landlords who participated in the COVID rent relief program. Passed Senate 35–0. Held in Assembly committee
SB 971 (Newman) Allows pets in new affordable housing buildings. Signed into law by Governor on September 2, 2022
SB 1017 (Eggman) Protecting domestic violence survivors from eviction. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB1858 (Quirk-Silva) Extends health and safety regulations to substandard buildings that people live in, even if they are not officially residential use.Inactive. Held in Appropriations
AB 2050 (Lee) Limits on when the Ellis Act can be used to close an apartment building and evict everyone. Owners would have to have owned the building for at least 5 years. Exception for individuals that own no more than 4 homes. Held on Assembly floor.
AB 2179 (Grayson) Extension of emergency COVID tenant protections. Passed and signed into law on March 31, 2022
AB 2240 (Muratsuchi) Rent cap & protections for mobile homes. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2597 (Bloom) Right to air conditioning / cooling. Passed Assembly 48–21. Held in Senate committee.
AB 2710 (Kalra) Opportunity for tenants to purchase when bldg is sold., either themselves or with a nonprofit. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2713 (Wicks) Limits on owner move-in & Ellis Act evictions. Owner would have to intend to live in unit for at least 3 consecutive years, and cannot be already living in a different unit on the same property. Owners that want to evict tenants to demolish or remodel a building would have to obtain permits before filing the eviction. Inactive. Held on Assembly floor
Green Building
AB 2446 (Holden) Reducing carbon emissions from the manufacturing of building materials. 80% reduction by 2045. Signed into law by the Governor.
Ballot Measures
SCA 2 (Allen) Eliminates requirement that public housing be approved by ballot measure. Passed Senate & Assembly, headed to the ballot in 2024.
SCA 9 (Gonzalez) Creates a right to housing. Inactive. Held in Committee
ACA 14 (Wicks) $10 billion/year for affordable housing and housing the homeless. Inactive. Held in Appropriations
AB 411 (Irwin) $600 million bond for veterans’ housing. Passed Assembly 76–0. Held in Senate committee
SB 1457 (Hertzberg) $25 billion affordable housing bond. Passed Senate 28–7. Held in Assembly committee
Taxes
AB 1771 (Ward) Tax on profit from homes sold within 7 years of purchase. Tax rate ranges from 5% for homes held for 6–7 years, up to 25% for homes held for less than 3 years. Exemptions include lot splits, buildings where at least 15% of units are affordable, and primary residences of first time homeowners. Inactive. Held in Committee
Public Land
AB 1748 (Seyarto) Easier sales of surplus land zoned for low or middle density housing (up to 30 units per acre). Inactive. Failed vote in committee
AB 1910 (Cristina Garcia) Grants and incentives for converting publicly owned golf courses to parks and housing. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2357 (Ting) Website for affordable housing developers to search for surplus public land. Also simplifies process for declaring land surplus. Passed Assembly 54–19. Held in Senate committee
AB 2439 (Bloom) Housing on Department of Motor Vehicles land. Inactive. Held in Appropriations
AB 2762 (Bloom) Affordable housing on parking lots at parks and recreational facilities. Inactive. Held in Committee
Data
AB 889 (Gipson) Transparency on who owns rental property. Passed Assembly 47–18 last year. Held in Senate committee
AB 2094 (Robert Rivas) Annual report data on extremely low income (less than 30% of area median income) housing production. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2469 (Wicks) Statewide rental registry tracking ownership, physical attributes of the unit, length of tenancy, vacancies, and rent. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2531 (Grayson) Requires cities to have a centralized website listing development and permit fees, zoning, and other requirements. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 2873 (Jones-Sawyer) Requires reporting on diversity of businesses involved in affordable housing projects applying for state tax credit funding. Signed into law by the Governor.
Affordable Housing Production
AB 2334 (Wicks) Unlimited density and 3 extra stories of height allowed for affordable housing in areas with less driving (low vehicle travel areas where the driving is less than 85% of the regional or city average). Makes a few other changes to relax zoning for affordable housing. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2445 (Gallagher) Makes it more costly to file lawsuits opposing affordable housing, would require posting of a $500,000 bond. Inactive. Held in Committee
Funding
SB 948 (Becker) Statewide reserve fund for affordable projects, instead of requiring individual projects to have transition reserves in case of loss of operating subsidies. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 1288 (Quirk-Silva) Prioritizes tax credits for new construction by allowing shifting of funds from the 4% tax credit program to the 9% tax credit program. Passed Assembly & Senate, vetoed by Governor.
SB 1466 (Stern) $200–250 million a year for affordable housing. Inactive. Held in Committee
AB 1945 (Aguiar-Curry) Disaster recovery & rebuilding fund to preserve, repair, develop, or acquire affordable housing. Inactive. Held in Appropriations
AB 2006 (Berman) Streamlined monitoring of affordable projects for compliance with funding programs. Passed Assembly & Senate, at Governor’s desk.
AB 2186 (Grayson) Grants for cities that waive fees on projects where at least 75% of units are affordable. Passed Assembly 74–0. Held in Senate committee.
AB 2233 (Quirk-Silva) Amended into a bill to direct the state to plan for affordable housing on excess public land. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2305 (Grayson) Consolidated funding application for state housing funding. Passed Assembly 76–0, held in Senate committee
Creating Regional Affordable Housing Agencies in Southern California
SB 679 (Kamlager) Los Angeles County. Signed into law by the Governor.
SB 1105 (Hueso) San Diego County. Passed Senate 27–7. Held in Assembly committee
SB 1177 (Portantino) Burbank, Glendale, Pasadena. Signed into law by Governor on August 22, 2022
SB 1344 (Rubio) San Gabriel Valley. Inactive. Held in Committee
Social Housing
AB 2053 (Lee) Mixed income social housing. Passed Assembly 47–20. Did not pass Senate committee.
School Employees
AB 1719 (Ward) Community college worker housing. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 2295 (Bloom) Allows housing for school employees to exceed local zoning. Signed into law by the Governor.
Student Housing
SB 886 (Wiener) Faster approvals for student housing, CEQA exemption. Signed into law by the Governor.
AB 1602 (McCarty) Revolving loan fund. Passed Assembly 67–0. Held in Senate committee
AB 1764 (Medina) Student housing insecurity data + community college student housing to be reviewed by local gov’t bldg dept instead of the state. Passed Assembly 74–0. Held in Senate committee
AB 2272 (Low) Loans for maintenance of private college student housing. Signed into law by Governor on July 19, 2022
Youth Housing
AB 1615 (Ting) Expands foster youth housing program to also cover youth ages 22–24. Extends transition housing program to cover those that are 25 years old. Passed Assembly 76–0. Held in Senate committee
Preserving Affordable Housing
SB 490 (Caballero) Technical assistance. for buying and rehabbing buildings to become affordable housing. Gut and amended into bill unrelated to housing.
AB 1850 (Ward) Rent limits on market-rate buildings converted to affordable housing. Average rents must be lowered at least 10% from previous market rate rents, and at least half the units also must be at least 20% less than the fair market rent in the area. Passed Assembly 52–0. Failed to pass Senate committee.
AB 1911 (Gabriel) Tax credits for preserving affordability by converting existing privately owned housing to affordable housing. Inactive. Held in Appropriations
Property Taxes
AB 1206 (Bennett) Tax break for low-income units in limited equity co-ops. Signed into law by the Governor.
SB 1456 (Stern) Expands property tax exemption to more types of affordable housing, especially larger buildings. Passed Senate 39–0. Held in Assembly committee.
AB 1933 (Friedman) Eliminate property tax on land that will be used for building low income homes. Signed into law by the Governor.
