2021-2029 Housing Element

The Housing Element of the General Plan identifies the City’s housing conditions and needs, establishes goals, objectives, and policies to guide future housing decisions, and provides an array of programs to meet Citywide Housing Priorities, including: addressing the housing shortage, advancing racial equity and access to opportunity, preventing displacement and promoting sustainability and resilience. On June 29, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) informed the City of Los Angeles that its 2021-2029 Housing Element was in full compliance with State law, see the approval letter here.

The Housing Element is a required component of every jurisdiction's General Plan and must comply with specific standards and requirements set by the state. The Housing Element must be updated every eight years, with an additional progress report created annually. The 2021-2029 Housing Element was adopted by the Los Angeles City Council on November 24, 2021, and will be in effect through 2029. On April 21, 2022, City Planning released proposed targeted amendments to the Housing Element for public comment. Both CPC and PLUM recommended approval by the City Council. On June 14, 2022, the full City Council adopted the targeted amendments.

PDFs of the Housing Element are available in low resolution and high resolution, and the accordions below present each section of the document.

You can request additional information by submitting a public records request. Directions on how to request for City Planning records as well as other data can be found here. The Office of the City Clerk is the repository for all adopted and proposed regulations. For a full list, use the search function at LACityClerk Connect.

 


The Executive Summary describes the role and requirements for the Housing Element Update. The chapter also outlines the Plan’s six goals, highlights the Plan’s organizational format, describes the Plan’s relationship to the City’s General Plan as well as plans developed by other City agencies and regional jurisdictions, and includes a glossary of terms. This chapter also includes a summary of the outreach conducted during the plan development.

Executive Summary
Appendix 0.1 Summaries of Public Outreach

Chapter 1 provides a comprehensive overview of the City’s population, household, and housing stock characteristics, and an analysis of these factors in order to identify housing needs of the variety of household types and special needs across the City. The analysis highlights low rates of housing affordability and the creation and loss of existing low-cost housing. In addition, demographic changes such as the increase in the senior population and decrease in young families and children are assessed.

Chapter 1. Housing Needs Assessment
Appendix 1.1 Housing Element Assessment of Fair Housing

State Housing Element law requires cities to identify opportunities for energy conservation in residential development. The City has broadened this analysis to include energy conservation, water conservation, alternative energy sources and sustainable development which supports conservation and reduces demand. These efforts reduce development costs and improve the long-term affordability of housing units. The enactment of the LA Green Building Code and other regulations like the Low-Impact Development Ordinance have greatly strengthened City efforts towards sustainability. Specific City programs include providing rebates for energy efficient appliances, shifting the time of energy use, using alternative sources of energy (i.e., solar power), installing green roofs, requiring more sustainable landscaping and site design, and adopting General Plan land use designations and zoning that facilitate higher-density, compact, infill development near transit.

Chapter 3. Opportunities for Conservation in Residential Development 

Chapter 4 identifies the City’s inventory of land suitable for residential development without the need for any legislative action by the City, identifies additional alternative methods of satisfying the RHNA, provides an analysis of the inventory’s compliance with Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) requirements, and identifies the need for rezoning programs to accommodate the RHNA allocation. The analysis demonstrates that, during the 6th cycle, the City has an anticipated unit potential of 230,947 units, of which 72,640 units are Lower Income. As a result, the Plan identifies a need for a Rezoning Program to accommodate 255,432 units.

Chapter 4. Adequate Sites for Housing
Appendix 4.1 Inventory of Adequate Sites for Housing (Table A) 
Appendix 4.2 Pipeline Development - Public Land 
Appendix 4.3 Pipeline Development - Private Development 
Appendix 4.4 Additional AFFH Data Analysis
Appendix 4.5 Land Use (Table C) 
Appendix 4.6 Regression Methodology
Appendix 4.7 Candidate Sites Identified to be Rezoned to Accommodate Housing Shortfall Need (Table B)
Appendix 4.8 Potential Candidate Sites for Public Land Program 

What to Know about: RHNA, Site Selection, and Rezoning

Preparation of the Housing Element Update included the essential step of evaluating the previous 2013-2021 Housing Element in order to identify progress and evaluate the effectiveness of previous policies and programs. The review shows that building permits were issued for 117,088 new housing units. The City has therefore already met its overall RHNA target of 82,002 units; however, it is not expected to have produced enough housing in the affordable lower and moderate income categories. The review noted progress in increasing affordable housing production, particularly through mixed-income developments and showed that the goals, objectives and policies of the previous Housing Element remain largely relevant and important. This Housing Element Update builds upon them, reconfiguring and refining some of them to better focus the City’s strategy. The updates focused on advancing citywide housing priorities that specifically address the housing shortage, advancing racial equity and access to opportunity, protecting Angelenos from displacement, and promoting sustainability and resilience.  Similarly, the evaluation of programs provided insight into which efforts were more effective than others. As a result, many programs have been reconfigured so that going forward, more will be accomplished and a more accurate accounting can occur through the Housing Element’s Annual Progress Report.

Chapter 5. Review of the 2013-2021 Housing Element 
Appendix 5.1 Evaluation of 2013-2021 Goals, Objectives, Policies and Programs 

The objectives, policies and implementation programs under each goal speak to the diverse housing needs across the City. The City’s approach to alleviating housing needs and of creating sustainable mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhoods across the City aim to provide opportunities for housing, jobs, transit and basic amenities for all segments of the population. Each program was crafted to meet particular housing needs of the City, whether they are renters or homeowners, or populations with special needs. The goals, objectives and policies are organized around five issues: housing production; housing preservation; livable and sustainable communities; housing opportunities for all; and ending homelessness.

Chapter 6. Housing Goals, Objectives, Policies, and Programs 
Appendix 6.1 Lead and Supporting Agencies  

Annual Progress Reports

Each year, the City reports on the status and progress in implementing the Housing Element.