California AB 1997 (Lee, D-Milpitas) Speeds Permitting, Spurs Housing at Local Level

SACRAMENTO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Assemblymember Alex Lee (D-Milpitas) today introduced AB 1997, sponsored by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), which when enacted will speed up the permitting of housing development at the local level. The bill shortens the timeline for final approval of a building permit during the post-entitlement phase of permitting. The bill requires a local government to appoint a project development manager for certain projects to better ensure that the entire permit application process moves as quickly and smoothly as possible.

“As a developer of housing for extremely low-income Californians, AHF has been profoundly frustrated at the snail’s pace local governments take in approving permits for these critical projects,” said AHF President Michael Weinstein. “Over the past seven years, the Legislature and the Governor have enacted dozens of bills and appropriated billions of dollars to turn around our state’s failure to provide sufficient housing opportunities for our residents. Still, the state has come nowhere close to fulfilling our housing need. While there are numerous challenges to housing development in California, AB 1997 addresses a singularly unnecessary challenge: the 3, 4 or 5 years it takes a local government to approve a building permit before a single shovel of dirt can be turned.”

The state Department of Housing and Community Development reports that the state needs 2.5 million homes by 2030. Fewer than 80,000 homes have been produced each year over the last ten years. The US Census Bureau reported that as of last August barely 67,000 permits were pulled in the state and even fewer were pulled for multifamily housing (36,000 in 2024, the last full year of data).

In a report released last year, RAND noted the cost of a unit in a multifamily development is $430,000, and the biggest driver of that cost is the lengthy time, on average 4 years, to produce a unit. RAND recommended substantially shorter timeframes for permit approval.

To accelerate their housing development, the City of San Diego instituted a project development manager for complex projects to keep the approval process timely and predictable, engage as a bridge between the city and the applicant and resolve any conflicts quickly. The Terner Center at UC Berkeley noted that the employment of a project development manager has helped double the number of approved permits in San Diego. In its report last year, the Assembly Select Committee on Permitting Reform echoed the call for project managers to ensure that the city is as invested in the success of the project as the applicant.

“We must take urgent action to speed up housing construction,” said Assemblymember Lee. “The chronic housing shortage is causing soaring home prices, leaving millions of families struggling to afford a home. AB 1997 will accelerate the construction of new homes by expediting the permitting of housing developments. California must build 180,000 homes annually to keep up with housing demand. Ensuring a faster, more efficient permitting process is essential to meeting the state’s housing production goals.”

AB 1997 would also require the director of Housing and Community Development to convene a working group of housing professionals and local government officials to make recommendations about how cities and counties can better expedite the development of housing. The state’s current pro-housing designation, which awards local governments points toward securing multifamily housing grants if they adopt policies that improve access to housing, would be expanded to award points when a city or county exceeds a state-established threshold that measures a faster pace of housing development.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization, provides cutting-edge medicine and advocacy to more than 2.8 million individuals across 50 countries, including the U.S. and in Africa, Latin America/Caribbean, the Asia/Pacific Region, and Eastern Europe. In January 2025, AHF received the MLK, Jr. Social Justice Award, The King Center’s highest recognition for an organization leading work in the social justice arena. To learn more about AHF, visit us online at AIDShealth.org, find us on Facebook, and follow us on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.