Los Angeles Shows That the Private Sector Can Develop Affordable Housing
Los Angeles Shows That the Private Sector Can Develop Affordable Housing was written by Zachary Steinert-Threlkeld in 2025. It was published online by the Briefing Book.
Karen Bass issued Executive Directive 1 (ED1) to institute regulatory changes that made construction of certain categories of housing simpler (departmental approval only) and faster (45 day review period). The categories are 100% affordable housing projects that are not in single family residential zones, not in a very high fire hazard severity zone, not on a hillside, not on a lot where there is a preexisting historic building, not in a historic preservation overlay zone, and not on a lot where there currently are 12 rent stabilized units.
The author explains that "100% affordable housing" is defined as a building with 5+ units where all units are affordable to households with income below 80% area median income (AMI); or at most 20% of units affordable below 120% of AMI with the balance affordable below 80%. Rent is also capped for households with income below the AMI.
This is mainly attractive for buildings with more than 50 units that do not require rezoning, as that level of density otherwise makes a project subject to discretionary review by the city council. It also exempts California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) reviews.
UCLA Lewis Center administers a survey to publish the Los Angeles Quality of Life Index.
- Telephony sample is RDD
- Online probability sample
Author finds that a majority of residents support construction of apartments in their own neighborhood. While renters feature higher support than homeowners, there is still substantial support found among them: "58.83% of homeowners support new apartments in single-family areas and 49.40% support them in their neighborhood".
The author argues that the prevalence of luxury housing projects is simply a reflection of the types of projects that are profitable given regulatory conditions. If regulations are cut, then more affordable housing projects will surface.
The author also argues that the perception of mass opposition to apartment projects is driven by a noisy minority.