San Benito County Housing Articles

Some of California’s top lawmakers want to clear up, but also rein in, the “builder’s remedy.”

A once-groundbreaking nonprofit working with chronically homeless people in California’s capital closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2023.

The California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA, is both the state’s signature environmental legislation, and is also often named as the villain in the state’s housing shortage. But the story may not be that simple.

In NYT’s “The Farmers Had What the Billionaires Wanted,” we meet a man who wants to build a city in the middle of nowhere, and folks who are slowing him down.

The California housing crisis is not only weakening the state politically at the national level, it could shift the political balance in Washington, D.C., as Republican-led states add population while California’s exodus continues.

California Forever, the company behind a proposed new city in Solano County, will submit a ballot measure seeking an exemption from local laws to allow development on the massive project to proceed.

The highest court in the land will soon decide how much leeway cities and counties have in offsetting new construction with fees to pay for infrastructure.

San Francisco provides all tenants facing eviction access to an attorney. Across the Bay, in Contra Costa County, it’s a different story. Two tenants’ stories show the difference a lawyer can make.

This Gilroy home received a new roof donated by Simmitri and other local roofing companies. Photo courtesy of Simmitri
A Gilroy woman recently received a new roof for her home at no charge thanks to the efforts of Simmitri and …

California lawmakers made an effort in 2023 to remove red tape around new affordable houses, but obstacles such as high interest rates, sluggish local approval processes and a shortage of skilled construction workers remain.

The state has hundreds of millions to spend on affordable housing. Developers say they need billions.

Local officials counted on the state’s Homekey program to convert hotel rooms. But now a major developer has defaulted on loans and the state housing department is investigating.

California’s rent cap doesn’t apply to some kinds of low-income housing, which has its own rules. But with inflation, some tenants have gotten much higher rent increases, even though affordable units were built with taxpayer subsidies.

More than 70,000 households who needed and applied for state aid to pay their rent during the COVID-19 pandemic by the March 2022 deadline still have their applications listed as "pending." Now they could be evicted from their homes.

Assembly Speaker Rivas puts key allies into leadership posts and shuffles the top posts on committees heading into the 2024 session of the Legislature. One big winner: pro-housing advocates.

The number of Californians facing eviction was relatively low for years during a lengthy statewide moratorium. In the year after it ended, cases soared and still remain high in large counties.

A hotel in Hollywood is receiving more than twice it would get per room by renting to the city of Los Angeles rather than to long-term tenants.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Oct. 11 signed multiple housing bills aimed at tackling the state’s lack of affordable housing and making it easier for tenants to rent a home in the first place. Newsom signed a whopping 56 bills …

California’s COVID-era rent relief program, long saddled with delays, criticisms and legal woes, appears to be running out of money. What does that mean for the more than 100,000 renters still awaiting help?