The Housing Element is one of seven mandatory elements that every California jurisdiction must include in its General Plan. State law mandates that all local governments adequately plan to meet the existing and projected housing needs of all economic segments of the community. The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) allocates the Bay Area regional housing need to all the cities and counties in the Bay Area. Pursuant to Government Code Section 65400, the County is required to submit an annual report to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the State Office of Planning and Research by April 1 of each year.  
  
Jurisdictions are also required to submit the annual report to their legislative bodies for review and comment. Attached to this Board Order is the County's 2018 Annual Housing Element Progress Report.  
  
The County's Housing Element is part of the 5th Regional Housing Need Assessment (RHNA) Cycle that covers the eight year planning period from 2015 to 2023. During this period, the County is expected to plan for the provision of 1,367 units of housing in the unincorporated County. This is the fourth report of the eight year period.  
  
In 2018, the County issued 190 building permits for single-family dwellings, 48 building permits were issued for accessory dwelling units, 6 building permits were issued for mobile homes, 2 building permits were issued for duplexes, and 4 building permits were issued for multi-family/mixed use developments. Of these issued building permits, a total of 1 unit was determined to be a moderate-income unit and 234 units were lower-income units (low and very low area median incomes) with deed restrictions on 233 units. The affordability levels of the non-deed-restricted units is based on the comparative sales prices of the units. The number of above-moderate income housing units that were issued building permits is 434 units. During this reporting period, the County issued building permits for a total of 669 net new units.  
  
Staff calls to the Board's attention the County's progress in meeting its share of regional housing needs. Calendar year 2018 is the fifty percent mark of the the eight-year Housing Element cycle. The County has issued building permits for 111.5 percent of its total allocated share of the region's housing needs. Through the first four years of the current housing cycle, the total number of units for which the County has issued building permits is 1,525 units, which includes 63 very-low income units, 182 low-income units, 125 moderate-income units, and 1,155 above-moderate income units. While the County has already exceeded gross housing production goals, production of new housing units available to households in the moderate-, low-, and very low-income categories is progressing. The majority of low and very-low income units are part of larger multi-family projects. In 2018, the County issued permits for 63 units affordable to very low-income households and 171 units affordable to low-income households. Through the first four years of the current housing cycle the County has issued building permits to meet 17 percent of the very low-income category, 83 percent of the low income category and 51 percent of the moderate income housing units indicated in the County’s Housing Element and Regional Housing Needs Allocation for Contra Costa County.   
  
The County continues to implement 31 housing related programs, including programs designed to remove governmental constraints to maintaining, improving, and developing housing. A summary of the programs and recent accomplishments are included as Table D in the attached report.

There is no consequence of a negative action. The County is required to provide the Annual Housing Element Progress Report to the Board of Supervisors in a public meeting to allow the public an opportunity to review and comment on the report.