Riverside County Housing Affordability The Housing Element Program , by Briana Frazier.

Riverside County Housing Affordability: The Housing Element Program

By Briana Frazier

Riverside is one of the most populous counties in the State of California, having over 2.471 million residents as of the 2019 data from the United States Census Bureau. Most of the area’s population growth took place in the millennium Boom when there were a lot of construction jobs, and new home sales skyrocketed. However, following the 200810 recession, most people in the region were left homeless, and the region incurred deep losses in sales volume. Additionally, new construction stopped, and the county started recording high unemployment rates.

According to an article published in our January Issue of the Power Is Now Magazine, Riverside county data shows that there were more homebuyers in the market and actually bought just a few homes compared to other quarters but ended up paying more especially in the last quarter of 2021. In addition, data also shows that Riverside County’s, a once safe haven for many buyers fleeing the Bay area, six-county median sales price hit a record high around the same period, despite the pandemic and slowing slaves.

But, like in many other Metros, demand outstripped supply in riverside causing high prices, but one noticeable trend is that affordability concerns were slowing the buying pace.

Following that article, we look at one of the issues that might impact Riverside County’s affordability.

The county will have to resubmit its long-term blueprint for adding new housing. This is after the state officials found its initial plan lacking any affordable housing element in its unincorporated areas including parts of Coachella Valley. This impacts affordability a great deal because depending on how long this process is delayed, housing will become more competitive or risk becoming fully ineligible for the millions of statelevel funding annually.

Currently Riverside is a sellers’ market with homes staying on the market for an average of 63 days according to Realto.com. This is a trend that has gone up month over month. As such, any further delays could mean huge impacts for a state that is in dire need of affordable housing units.

The state required an eight-year plan known as the Housing Element which is an integral part of the County’s General Plan. Although the Riverside County Board of Supervisors adopted the latest Housing Element in September, the California Department of Housing and Community Development rejected the county’s plan in late December outlining several matters that must be addressed before moving forward.

Most of the deficiencies in the blueprint were all tied to the evaluation of housing needs, programs, and initiatives to address these needs, and also there was the issue of public participation in the drafting of the plan.

And while the county is mandated to draft its plan for the unincorporated areas which by the way make up for about 16% of the county’s total population, cities in Coachella Valley have drafted their own long-term blueprints which accounts for their projected population growth. Unincorporated areas need to be taken seriously as the housing needs in these areas makeup just under a quarter of the county’s total housing needs determined through a state-mandated

process known a Regional Housing Needs Allocation. This means Riverside County will have to plan for roughly 126,704 new housing units, compared to the unincorporated areas’ benchmark of 40,647.

The state’s response to Riverside County’s plan is noteworthy according to Ashley Werner, a directing attorney for the Leadership Counsel for Justice and Accountability, a community organization in the eastern Coachella Valley that has closely monitored the county’s Housing Element process.

“If an Element is returned, it will be a handful of items that need to be addressed,” Werner told The Desert Sun. “In this case, there’s like entire components of the analysis that have been found lacking that the county is going to have to rectify, and then they’re going to have to change the programs in the Element to reflect that analysis. So, it’s both the fact that they were found out of compliance and how many components of the element are out of compliance.”

PLANS TO RESUBMIT HOUSING ELEMENT IN MARCH

The letter from the state categorically stated that if the county failed to resubmit its housing element within 120 days of the original deadline (October 15) meaning Feb 12, the county would be required to complete any rezoning within a year of the October deadline. And though the February deadline accelerates the timeline for the zoning changes, the county is not seeking to make any plans of that nature and therefore officials anticipate returning the county’s revised Housing Element to the state’s department in early-to-mid march (this month). According to Federico, the county’s spokesperson.

She added that this timeline “will create a path for the county to achieve certification of its Housing Element.”

“According to recent changes to Housing Element law, February 12, 2022, deadline prompts rezoning of housing inventory sites within one year of the October 15, 2021, statutory deadline,” Federico said in an email. “If rezoning does not occur within one year, a jurisdiction will be placed on a four-year update cycle, rather than an eight-year update cycle.”

“However, the county is not proposing — or required to — rezone any of the proposed housing inventory sites,” she added. “As a result, this requirement will not affect the goal to create an appropriate housing plan and receive certification.”

The plan’s updated policies “will further address fair housing, infrastructure, development of large lots, farmworker housing, constraints to the development of group homes, funding for at-risk affordable units, and financing opportunities for accessory dwelling units,” Federico noted.

The county typically receives between $60 million and $69 million in state housing funds each year. “The awarded funding, along with other potential funding sources available at the state level, are contingent on a compliant Housing Element,” Federico said.

If the county submits its Housing Element in March, as planned, that review period would end in May. The plan would then return to the county Board of Supervisors for approval before being sent to HCD staff for possible certification.