Planning and zoning: housing element: converted affordable housing units.

Assembly Member Quirk-Silva's housing legislation expands California's annual housing element reporting requirements while creating new mechanisms to track the conversion of existing multifamily units into long-term affordable housing. The bill modifies how local governments document their progress toward meeting regional housing needs by allowing them to count certain converted affordable units and requiring more detailed reporting on housing development, demolition, and replacement.

Under the new provisions, planning agencies may include converted affordable housing units for up to 25 percent of their regional housing needs allocation for lower-income categories. To qualify, these units must not have had prior affordability restrictions and must be subject to new 55-year covenants requiring availability to low, very low, extremely low, or acutely low-income households at affordable rents. The bill establishes specific criteria for counting converted units, including protections for existing tenants, temporary relocation assistance during rehabilitation, and ongoing governmental monitoring.

The legislation also enhances annual reporting requirements for cities and counties. Planning agencies must now provide detailed information about housing development applications, approvals and disapprovals by income category and location, demolitions, and replacement housing obligations. The Department of Housing and Community Development gains authority to request corrections to submitted reports within 90 days and may reject reports that do not substantially comply with requirements. Courts can compel compliance through orders and sanctions if jurisdictions fail to submit adequate reports within specified timeframes.

The bill maintains existing provisions allowing the public to provide input on annual housing reports at legislative body meetings while adding new requirements for documenting density bonus applications, historic designations, and Native American tribal consultation processes. These changes aim to create a more comprehensive picture of local housing development activity and preservation efforts.