San Diego lawmakers are pushing a new bill they say would accelerate affordable housing development and help more residents put down roots in the region.
State Assemblyman David Alvarez announced AB 2433, known as the Affordable Homes Bonus Law, as the city continues to confront a housing shortage. He said the legislation is focused on families thinking about their long-term future.
“People who have children, like I do, are thinking about the future of their children,” Alvarez said. “Are they gonna be able to live here in San Diego or in California? And the truth is that most people think that the answer to that is no.”
AB 2433 would build on California’s current density bonus law, which began in San Diego and allows developers to construct additional units in exchange for including affordable housing.
Developers say the existing program has already delivered results.
“The program is working so great: 140,000 new homes have been approved across California for the past five years, and for the first time in 15 years, we have started to see rents drop,” said Rammy Cortez of Rammy Urban Infill.
The new proposal would allow developers to stack density bonuses and use streamlined approval processes for affordable housing units built to sell to low- and moderate-income buyers. It would also reduce certain requirements, including parking mandates, in an effort to cut red tape and build faster, without requiring government subsidies.
Alvarez said the goal is to help working professionals afford homes in San Diego.
“We’re talking about teachers and professionals who don’t have the types of salaries that homes are now going for here in San Diego,” Alvarez said. “How do we get them to have ownership? And that’s how this bill came to be.”
The push for additional incentives comes as the city releases new housing data. According to San Diego’s 2025 Housing Report, the city issued 8,782 new home permits in 2024. Of those, 1,061 were deed-restricted as affordable housing.
The top five community plan areas for those new affordable home permits were City Heights, Uptown, Clairemont Mesa, Southeastern San Diego and Kearny Mesa.
City leaders say progress is being made but acknowledge the need for significantly more permanent affordable housing.
Affordable housing levels in San Diego are determined by the median income of a typical family in a specific area.
AB 2433 must still move through several legislative committees and pass the state Senate before it can reach the governor’s desk for a signature.
This story was originally reported for broadcast by NBC San Diego. AI tools helped convert the story to a digital article, and an NBC San Diego journalist edited the article for publication.