Housing Technical Assistance Program

STATUS: In Progress: Implementation

Project Overview

SANDAG’s Housing Technical Assistance Program provides housing policy resources tailored to support local jurisdictions as they implement their Housing Elements, comply with new housing legislation, and streamline permitting processes to enable more efficient land use and spur housing development.

This page contains a summary of existing housing resources organized by topic. These resources provide direction for implementing housing programs in the San Diego region. For an up-to-date list of resources produced through SANDAG’s Housing Technical Assistance Program, see the Housing Acceleration Program Index of Technical Assistance Resources.

Technical Assistance Resources

These resources cover the housing development review process, from application intake and completeness review through findings, environmental review, and project approval. Materials include a reference guide addressing key development review terms, a typical review workflow, the core state laws that apply during housing entitlement, and coastal planning considerations, along with a chart comparing processing requirements across more than a dozen housing laws. This section also includes technical presentations on the CEQA topic areas that most frequently arise in residential project review.

Current Planning Fundamentals

CEQA Technical Topic Areas

These presentations focusing on four CEQA topic areas were prepared and presented by Ascent Environmental in winter 2023 and spring 2024.

State law establishes several ministerial and by-right pathways that accelerate review timelines and exempt qualifying housing projects from certain aspects of the approval process, each with its own eligibility criteria, affordability requirements, and processing deadlines. These resources include eligibility checklists for the major streamlining statutes and model ordinances and resolutions that can be adapted locally. The materials address both whether a project qualifies for streamlined review and what obligations attach once it does.

Streamlining Pathways and Eligibility

Residential Development in Commercial Zones (June 2023)

By-Right Approvals (June 2024)

These resources address the housing types and development standards that state law most directly regulates, including accessory dwelling units, density bonus concessions, incentives, and waivers, and objective design standards. Materials range from webinars and legislative summaries to guidance documents and toolkits for use in updating local ordinances.

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)

Density Bonus Law

Objective Design and Parking Standards

Jurisdictions have ongoing obligations under state housing law throughout the planning period following housing element adoption. These resources address maintaining adequate sites capacity under no net loss requirements and pursuing HCD's Prohousing Designation, which requires a compliant housing element, a submitted annual progress report, and completed rezone programs as threshold criteria. Materials include calculators, findings templates, and webinars covering reporting requirements and designation scoring categories.

Preparing for the 7th Cycle Housing Element (September 2026)

No Net Loss

Prohousing Designation Program

These resources cover anti-displacement strategy, residential rehabilitation program design, and value capture, a set of financing tools including tax increment financing, community facilities districts, and joint development that can be used to fund infrastructure and advance housing goals near regional transportation investments. Materials include regional studies, a screening tool for evaluating whether these instruments are viable in a given area, and program guides.

Anti-Displacement Strategies (July 2024)

Housing Rehabilitation (December 2023)

Funding and Finance Tools

2026 Legislative Session (October 2026) 

The 2026 Legislative Tracker Summary reviews housing-related bills from the 2026 legislative session. An accompanying webinar covered the key bills most relevant to local planning practice.

2025 Legislative Session (November 2025)

The 2025 Legislation Tracker Summary reviews housing-related bills from the 2025 legislative session. An accompanying webinar covered the key bills and provided an overview of AB 130 and SB 131, the 2025 housing trailer bills that introduced CEQA reforms for infill housing and extended core housing streamlining laws.

2024 Legislative Session (October 2024)

The 2024 Legislation Tracker Summary reviews key legislation passed during the 2024 legislative session, covering the Housing Accountability Act, streamlining and development review, ADUs and JADUs, housing elements, other general plan elements, and impact fees and exactions.

2023 Legislative Session (November 2023)

The 2023 Legislation Tracker Summary reviews significant housing legislation passed during the 2023 legislative session and signed into law, all of which became effective January 1, 2024, unless otherwise noted. Prepared in collaboration with the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the summary was accompanied by a webinar covering the bills most relevant to local planning practice.

Schedule

The Housing Acceleration Program and its technical assistance component will conclude at the end 2026 due to the expiration of REAP 2.0 funds.

Budget

The program uses REAP 2.0 funding, which will expire December 31, 2026.

Connect with Us

Subscribe to the SANDAG Newsletter for updates on projects, programs, and opportunities to provide feedback that helps shape SANDAG’s work. For more information, contact housing@sandag.org.

Resources

HCD Technical Assistance

Housing Policy and Planning Tool

Related Pages