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

Quirk-Silva’s measure would broaden California’s housing element reporting by weaving a new layer of data into annual planning reports, while introducing a mechanism to count a subset of converted affordable units toward regional housing needs and coordinating closely with a companion proposal. The opening change centers on expanding the housing element’s reporting scope to capture more granular information about production, reductions, and long‑term affordability, with public posting and department review processes to accompany the data.

Key provisions would restructure the annual housing element report to require a comprehensive set of categories beginning with the report due in 2027. Jurisdictions would report, among other items, the status of the general plan and progress in its implementation; progress toward meeting regional housing needs, including low‑income targets and previous revisions; the number and type of housing development applications (ministerial versus discretionary), and, starting in 2027, whether applications are subject to replacement housing or relocation obligations. The amended framework would also require tallies of housing units in all development applications, units approved or disapproved by income level and opportunity area, inventory of rezoned sites, density bonus activity, historic designations affecting housing, and project‑level data for applications under multiple housing statutes, with a new emphasis on replacement housing and demolition data beginning in 2027.

A central new element would count a defined set of converted units—existing multifamily units converted to long‑term affordable housing under affordability covenants—for RHNA, subject to strict conditions. Converted units could be counted toward a jurisdiction’s RHNA up to a 25 percent cap for low‑, very low‑, extremely low‑, or acutely low‑income households, beginning with the 2027 report. Each converted unit must be aligned with long‑term affordability (55 years), be under a regulatory agreement, protect incumbents from eviction based on income eligibility, provide temporary replacement housing during rehabilitation, ensure the unit remains in decent condition, and be monitored to maintain ongoing affordability. The reporting framework would require disclosure that these are not newly constructed units and would delineate per‑unit and project‑level details in the same manner as other housing data.

Implementation and oversight would be shaped by a coordination mechanism with a parallel bill and by ongoing Department of Housing and Community Development administration. The measure would preserve existing enforcement tools, including department‑initiated corrections and potential rejection of noncompliant reports, as well as court‑ordered sanctions if deadlines are not met, with public posting of submitted reports on the department’s website to enhance transparency. Local jurisdictions, the department, and related state offices would be responsible for standards, forms, and definitions that adapt over time, and Napa County and the City of Napa would be subject to applicable data reporting as part of the broader framework. The timing and operability of the new provisions depend on enactment and sequencing with the companion bill, introducing a coordinated but contingent implementation pathway.