California Law Could Add 700,000 Homes

California’s housing plan calls for >300K new homes yearly, yet approvals have stayed far lower, underscoring why effective, buildable reforms remain essential statewide.
Several headline housing laws have delivered limited results, from a lot-split measure to a church-land measure with just 94 permitted units statewide.
A key obstacle has been labor rules and below-market unit mandates, which can make projects harder to finance; labor provisions add ~$100K per home.
California’s strongest gains have come from simpler approaches: accessory dwelling unit permits now top 20K yearly, making up nearly a quarter of statewide approvals.
Density bonuses remain even stronger: yearly approvals sit just under 50K units, and cover nearly half of new multifamily housing in California.