Assembly committee hears mixed progress on housing laws; ADUs and subsidized projects cited as bright spots

The California State Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee opened its first informational hearing of 2025 to take stock of recent housing production laws and their implementation, Chair Haynie said, noting bluntly: “California is in a housing crisis. Plain and simple, we do not have enough housing.”

The hearing brought together researchers from UC Berkeley, staff from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), developers and local officials. Testimony emphasized that while select state policies have sped approvals and raised affordable-housing production, many barriers remain — most notably persistent funding shortfalls, litigation and infrastructure and permitting constraints that can stop approved projects from being built.

Committee members said the stocktake was intended to inform any new legislation this year and to identify where existing laws need better enforcement or funding. The panelists described a mix of measurable wins and continuing bottlenecks: ADU growth and streamlining for subsidized projects produced clear upticks in permits, but CEQA litigation, financing gaps, construction costs and local capacity still slow or stall housing on the ground.

Ben Metcalfe, managing director of the UC Berkeley Turner Center for Housing Innovation, framed the scale of the problem and the partial progress to date. Metcalfe presented RHNA-based production targets and told the committee the state is far behind its goals across…