Housing Density: Why Is It Important?

As our region continues to experience a prolonged housing crisis, creativity and political fortitude are required to address our region’s lack of housing supply. Space for development is limited, and therefore increasing neighborhood density and infill housing is of paramount importance.  Infill housing does not mean building massive apartment and condo complexes in the middle of single-family neighborhoods.  It is merely implementing the methods below to create more affordable housing stock while simultaneously allowing single-family neighborhoods to keep the fabric and character of their communities. Please take a moment to read some of the creative solutions to our housing crisis below!

Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) AKA granny flats and in-law units can provide important benefits to homeowners and the community. ADUs provide a great secondary source of income for any homeowner that decides to build one on their property whereby increasing affordability and lowering the barriers to homeownership in our region. The permitting process and cost associated have historically been too significant for most homeowners to access this potential benefit of homeownership. Recently, the state of California and local municipalities have taken major steps to improve the permitting process, decrease regulations, and lower the costs.

The largest city in our county, San Jose, has recently taken several steps to increase the production of ADUs. San Jose has passed several policies in the past couple of years to decrease regulations and the guidelines for an ADU to be developed.

This streamlining includes a set of pre-approved master plans from certain vendors that homeowners can choose from to expedite the process and most likely reduce costs and a universal checklist for building an ADU. Additionally, every Tuesday at San Jose City Hall Planning Department, homeowners have the opportunity to receive an express review service for an ADU permit.

Lastly, San Jose, in partnership with Housing Trust Silicon Valley, has approved a forgivable loan program of up to $20,000 per household for homeowners who agree to rent their unit at an approved affordable rate for 5 years.

Other cities in the region have been following in San Jose’s footsteps looking at how to decrease costs and permitting delays for the building of ADUs. The cities of Campbell and Milpitas have already passed significant legislation to decrease the regulations of ADUs.