The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) has approved the Association of Bay Area Government’s (ABAG) Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Plan.
After two years of collaboration, the ABAG Executive Board approved the RHNA Plan in December, then submitted it to HCD.
"We appreciate ABAG’s efforts in completing the RHNA process," the agency wrote in its approval letter, issued last week.
HCD required the Bay Area to plan for and revise local zoning to accommodate 441,176 additional housing units during the 2023-31 period. The approved final RHNA plan distributes this requirement among the region’s nine counties and 101 cities and towns.
"HCD is committed to assisting ABAG’s local governments in preparing and implementing updated Housing Elements to effectively address the region’s housing need," the agency wrote. "Local governments are encouraged to develop local land use strategies to maximize land resources and encourage affordable housing and a variety of housing types, thus furthering the state’s economic, fair housing, and environmental objectives."
ABAG has created the Regional Housing Technical Assistance Program (RHTA) to help local agencies update the housing elements of their general plans, ensuring that Bay Area cities, towns and counties take the steps to move from plans to implementation and remain competitive for various state funding programs to increase housing opportunities.
Funded by the state’s Regional Early Action Planning grant, RHTA includes some $11 million in direct assistance to local governments as well as other support. For more information, visit the RHTA website.
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