High poverty rates underscore the fact that Californians’ costs for housing, utilities, fuel and other necessities of life are among the nation’s highest.

It’s been five months since California’s legislative leaders deemed affordability an “urgent” issue for the session. So far: committees, bills, but few results.

In the recurring legislative fight between affordable housing advocates and defenders of California’s signature environmental law, one bill could be a final legislative showdown.

Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas pledged to tackle affordability in 2025, but Democratic lawmakers’ plans to address Trump cuts, housing costs, energy, insurance, grocery bills and inflation remain unclear.

Recent California laws were supposed to supercharge the construction of desperately needed housing. Critics say they haven’t even come close.

President-elect Donald Trump’s housing policy for his second term is vague at best. But based on available information, many California housing experts are not optimistic about what it could mean for the state’s crisis.

The sudden disappearance of half a billion dollars of state money meant to help community land trusts has left some housing advocates questioning California’s commitment to preserving existing affordable housing.

Kamala Harris pledges to build 3 million affordable homes and apartments in her first term as president, but Gov. Newsom has fallen short on a similar campaign promise in California.

While it’s always been more expensive to be a homeowner in California, the gap between the rest of the country has widened into a chasm.

Gov. Gavin Newsom rejected a Democratic proposal that would have extended first-time home-buyer loans to some undocumented immigrants. Republicans had widely criticized the bill.

The cost of Proposition 47 is just too high.

One day before the deadline, the Bay Area Housing Finance Authority pulled a $20 billion affordable housing bond off Bay Area ballots amid fears that it wouldn’t pass.

Some California agencies are offering incentives and hosting workshops for school districts that want to build affordable housing for teachers.

The Los Gatos Meadows project was granted a story pole exception so it only has to produce a visual rendering, not put up physical structures to indicate where buildings would appear. 

A newly created regional housing finance authority for the entire San Francisco Bay Area will send a bond of up to $20 billion to the ballot. But the fate of its statewide counterpart looks bleak.

California lawmakers made an effort in 2023 to remove red tape around building new houses.