As in previous years, California saw a significant volume of new housing legislation emerge from Sacramento in 2025. (See Holland & Knight's previous annual recaps of California Housing Laws in the final section below.) This...more
12/15/2025
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Environmental Review ,
Governor Newsom ,
Housing Developers ,
New Legislation ,
Permits ,
Real Estate Development ,
Regulatory Reform ,
Regulatory Requirements ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
California's Second District Court of Appeal recently held that local governments cannot satisfy their Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) obligations by using zoning "overlays" that allow, but do not require,...more
As state laws increasingly limit local government authority over housing production, cities and housing opponents have sought refuge in provisions of the California Constitution that give "charter cities" – cities that have...more
11/10/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
Appellate Courts ,
Building Codes ,
CA Supreme Court ,
Home Rule States ,
Local Ordinance ,
Municipalities ,
Preemption ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government ,
State Constitutions ,
Zoning Laws
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law AB 130 and SB 131, which contain among the most significant California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) revisions in recent history. The legislation reflects a high-stakes effort...more
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 10, 2025, signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 1050 (Schultz) (Chapter 504, Statutes of 2025), effective Jan. 1, 2026, further amending California Civil Code Section 714.61 and expanding the...more
10/20/2025
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
Commercial Property Owners ,
Contract Terms ,
Housing Developers ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
New Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Redevelopment ,
Restrictive Covenants ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill (SB) 79 into law on Oct. 10, 2025, with a strong statement of support. Of SB 79, which in part addresses local limits with regard to high-density housing development, the...more
10/13/2025
/ Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Governor Newsom ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
New Legislation ,
Public Transit ,
State and Local Government ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Wildfires ,
Zoning Laws
As in previous years, California saw a significant volume of new housing legislation emerge from Sacramento in 2024. (See Holland & Knight's previous annual recaps of California Housing Laws in the final section below.) This...more
11/7/2024
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
Building Permits ,
CEQA ,
Coastal Real Estate ,
Governor Newsom ,
Historic Preservation ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
New Legislation ,
Public Transit ,
Real Estate Development ,
Roads ,
Urban Planning & Development
California law requires cities and counties to regularly plan for new housing development and to prepare and adopt housing elements that formalize these plans. For those cities and counties that fail to adopt housing elements...more
9/12/2024
/ Community Development ,
Construction Contracts ,
Construction Industry ,
Construction Project ,
General Contractors ,
Governor Newsom ,
Housing Developers ,
Pending Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Remedies ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled on April 12, 2024, that the "Takings Clause" enshrined in the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution applies equally to legislative and administratively imposed land use permitting fees. Since...more
4/17/2024
/ CEQA ,
Constitutional Challenges ,
Dolan v City of Tigard ,
Fifth Amendment ,
Impact Fees ,
Land Use Fees ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Multi-Factor Test ,
Nexus ,
Nollan v California Coastal Commission ,
Private Property ,
Property Owners ,
Proportionality ,
Real Estate Development ,
Rough Proportionality Test ,
SCOTUS ,
Takings Clause
The 2023 California Legislative session, like the last several, saw the enactment of a large number of significant new housing production laws. (See Holland & Knight's previous annual recaps of California Housing Laws in the...more
11/6/2023
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Density Bonus ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Low Income Housing ,
New Legislation ,
Prevailing Wages ,
Real Estate Development ,
Urban Planning & Development
One of the key problems contributing to California's housing crisis is that it is relatively easy for housing opponents to file litigation challenging housing approvals, and even a completely meritless lawsuit can cause years...more
O'Brien Land Company's more than a decade-long odyssey to build 315 zoning-compliant homes – chronicled in Conor Dougherty's book Golden Gates: Fighting for Housing in America – has become the stuff of housing law legend,...more
As in previous years, the California Legislature enacted a large volume of housing production laws in the 2022 session, some of which may have a significant effect on housing production in 2023. ...more
10/11/2022
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
CEQA ,
Colleges ,
Density Bonus ,
Governor Newsom ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
LEED Certified ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Parking Lots ,
Proposed Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
Student Housing ,
Universities ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
The California Legislature passed Assembly Bill (AB) 2011 (Wicks), the Affordable Housing and High Road Jobs Act of 2022, and Senate Bill (SB) 6 (Caballero), the Middle Class Housing Act of 2022, on Aug. 29, 2022. Both pieces...more
Recent decisions from two court cases – Schreiber v. City of Los Angeles1 and Bankers Hill 150 v. City of San Diego2 – make California's Density Bonus Law a powerful tool not just for accessing increased density, but also for...more
6/2/2022
/ Affordable Housing ,
Amended Legislation ,
Density Bonus ,
General Plan ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Incentives ,
Market Rate ,
Mixed-Use Zoning ,
Real Estate Development ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Waivers
As in previous years, the California Legislature passed a large volume of laws related to housing in the 2021 legislative session. (See Holland & Knight's previous annual recaps of California Housing Laws in the final section...more
10/13/2021
/ Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) ,
Affordable Housing ,
CC&Rs ,
CEQA ,
Density Bonus ,
Equity Sharing Agreements ,
Housing Developers ,
Housing Market ,
Market Rate ,
Multi-Family Development ,
New Legislation ,
Nonprofits ,
Parking Lots ,
Single Family Housing ,
Urban Planning & Development ,
Zoning Laws
California Senate Bill (SB) 10, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law on Sept. 16, 2021, and will take effect on Jan. 1, 2022, provides that local agencies may adopt an ordinance to allow up to 10 dwelling units on any...more
In California Renters Legal Advocacy and Education Fund v. City of San Mateo, now the leading published authority on California's Housing Accountability Act (HAA), California's First District Court of Appeal affirmed that the...more
In Linovitz Capo Shores LLC v. Calif. Coastal Commission (Linovitz Capo), California's Fourth District Court of Appeal applied and reconciled three different statutes. The first, the California Mobilehome Parks Act...more
7/4/2021
/ Appeals ,
California Coastal Commission ,
Coastal Real Estate ,
Declaratory Relief ,
Due Process ,
Housing Market ,
Land Use Restrictions ,
Land-Use Permits ,
Mobile Homes ,
Public Hearing ,
Public Notice ,
Real Estate Development ,
Reversal ,
Split of Authority
Signed into law by California Gov. Gavin Newsom on May 20, 2021, and taking immediate effect as an "urgency statute," Senate Bill (SB) 7 revives and expands the previously enacted Environmental Leadership Development Project...more
6/1/2021
/ CEQA ,
Environmental Impact Report (EIR) ,
Environmental Policies ,
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ,
Housing Developers ,
HUD ,
LEED Certified ,
LEED Rules ,
Net Zero ,
New Legislation ,
Real Estate Development ,
State and Local Government
The California Court of Appeal has delivered a victory to Holland & Knight clients Ruegg & Ellsworth and Frank Spenger Company, as well as to housing advocates across the state, in a landmark opinion on the state's new...more
As California's housing supply and homelessness crisis continues to worsen, the state Legislature has for the past several years passed numerous pieces of housing legislation in each legislative session. ...more
9/23/2020
/ Affordable Housing ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Forbearance Agreements ,
Housing Market ,
Landlords ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Mortgages ,
Real Estate Development ,
Residential Leases ,
State and Local Government ,
Tenants ,
Urban Planning & Development
In a closely watched case, Protecting Our Water & Environmental Resources v. County of Stanislaus (POWER), Case No. S251708 (Aug. 27, 2020), the California Supreme Court has issued its first significant decision about the...more
The California State Judicial Council amended California Rule of Court, Emergency Rule No. 9, on May 29, 2020, lifting its previously adopted indefinite tolling of the limitation period to bring civil lawsuits. The amended...more
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the California Judicial Council on April 6, 2020, introduced amendments to the California Rules of Court, which are effective immediately and impact a broad suite of criminal and civil...more