Speaker Toni Atkins (D-San Diego) effort to find a way for more affordable housing on a statewide basis passed its first committee this week. AB 1335 creates the “Building Homes and Jobs Act,” which seeks to create permanent funding for affordable housing through a new real estate fee and increasing tax credits to spur new building.
As an industry we want to play a positive role in helping solve issues related to affordable housing in this state, and are amenable to several ideas that have been discussed related to AB 1335. However, we have some concerns about the way the bill is envisioned and have made several suggestions on way we think it can be improved. We look forward to working with the Speaker on this issue this year, and hope we can be part of a positive solution that works for all parties.
Identifying statewide permanent funding sources to backfill the loss of redevelopment is a critical issue, especially because many local jurisdictions are actively pursuing fee and tax hikes on our industry locally to pay for affordable housing. We hope a fair and comprehensive solution can be found.
