SCAG Takes Important Next Step in Determining Local Housing Need

The Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) today opened the public comment period on how best to allocate local housing need – a critical step forward in addressing an affordability crisis that has broad ramifications on our region’s prosperity and quality of life.

SCAG will conduct four public hearings and accept written comments over the next several weeks for residents, businesses and stakeholders to weigh in on three options for determining local housing needs as part of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) process.

California requires that every city and county adequately plan to meet current and projected housing needs, and through RHNA, determines what that need is every eight years. Later this month, the state is expected to announce the latest need assessment for the six-county region, at which point SCAG is required to develop a proposed plan for how to allocate those numbers to local jurisdictions.

“No community is immune from the safety, health and economic consequences of the housing crisis,” said Bill Jahn, President of SCAG. He noted that the average California home price is nearly 2 ½ times above the national average, while the average rent is nearly 50% higher than the rest of the country. More than 50% of households spend more than 30% of their paychecks on housing costs.

Three methodologies for determining local housing need were reviewed Thursday by SCAG’s Regional Council. Those options were based on feedback received from RHNA Subcommittee members and members of the public.

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