California’s pro-housing laws having little impact

In recent years, California lawmakers passed a spate of laws intended to catalyze more housing construction, but these measures have failed to have much of an impact, according to a new report by YIMBY Law, a pro-development nonprofit organization.

The analysis studied five state laws passed since 2021. Recently passed laws addressed matters such as repurposing defunct strip malls into apartments, turning under-used church parking lots into housing, and ending single-family zoning “as we know it.”

The report found little to no housing built as a result of these laws, though the executive director of YIMBY Law noted that the measures are still new. The laws may be failing to spur housing production because of certain requirements and loopholes, the report says.

For instance, developers may only hire union-affiliated workers or pay their workers higher wages, developers must sell or rent the units they build at below-market prices, and the laws have failed to counteract strong opposition by local governments.