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HCD presentation: Nevada region’s RENA surged after new adjustments; final allocations due after Jan 2026 review
Summary
HCD’s regional housing‑need presentation explained methodology changes that increased Nevada region’s RENA, including vacancy and cost‑burden adjustments and a capped seasonal‑use adjustment (10% cap versus a 35.45% raw rate), and set timelines for the final allocation letter and housing element deadlines.
California Department of Housing and Community Development staff laid out how the Nevada region’s regional housing need determination (RENA) was calculated for the seventh cycle, citing new adjustments that have increased the region’s assigned housing need.
Taylor Price, HCD project manager for the region, told local planners the calculation begins with population projections and household formation rates and then applies a series of statutory and administrative adjustments — including vacancy, cost‑burden, seasonal/recreational use, replacement, and homelessness adjustments — before distributing the total across income categories.
He noted two changes that significantly affected Nevada County: an updated cost‑burden adjustment that compared the region’s cost‑burden rate (42.13%) to a national average (31.68%), producing a 4,562‑unit adjustment for the region, and a seasonal/recreational/occasional‑use adjustment which initially calculated a 35.45% rate for Nevada County but was capped at 10% by HCD, yielding a 641‑unit adjustment instead of a 2,274‑unit adjustment that the raw percentage would have implied. "The Nevada region percentage was 35.45% before HCD capped it at 10%," Price said.
On vacancy rates, Price described how HCD adopted a split healthy vacancy approach: a 2% healthy owner vacancy rate and a 6% healthy renter vacancy rate in more rural areas, with the county’s existing owner vacancy at 1.75% and renter vacancy at 3.88% used in the calculations.
Price said the homelessness adjustment — added under Assembly Bill 3093 — uses point‑in‑time counts multiplied by household‑formation rates by age group to generate an estimate of units needed to house people experiencing homelessness.
Timeline and process: HCD expects to issue a final allocation plan after the local review period, currently slated with an expected January 2026 finalization, and reminded jurisdictions that housing elements for the Nevada region are due May 15, 2027.
Local reaction: Elected officials and planning staff at the forum asked how to challenge allocations and whether allocations are distributed by population, jobs, geography, or other factors. Price said the RENA totals for a region are final once issued, but jurisdictions can challenge their individual allocations during the specified review window and HCD will reallocate as appropriate after review. He reiterated that the housing element process is intended to ensure jurisdictions plan for capacity — rather than to require that units be constructed by a particular date.
Ending: Price urged jurisdictions to use the local review period, supply supplementary data where possible, and plan zoning and site inventories with the will to meet allocations or use the formal challenge process if lodging concerns about local capacity.
