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People walk by the construction site of Heumann House on Dec. 11, 2025. Housing on the former site of People\u2019s Park, a controversial development that neighbors and students fought for decades, is slated to provide more than 1,000 beds for incoming students. Credit: Estefany Gonzalez for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n
UC Berkeley\u00a0<\/a>will offer incoming freshmen two years of guaranteed housing next fall, marking a major expansion for the campus that\u2019s long struggled to keep up with accommodations for students.<\/p>\n The university said it will also guarantee a year of campus housing for transfer students, thanks to two new<\/a> housing projects set to open to students in 2027 and 2028, adding 2,700 beds.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo years of guaranteed housing for every incoming first-year student is transformative for our student experience,\u201d Chancellor Rich Lyons said in a press release last week. \u201cIt gives students the foundation they need \u2014 a place to live, a community to be part of and the stability that supports their well-being, allowing them to fully engage in their education and in the life of this university.\u201d<\/p>\n UC Berkeley has historically had the lowest rate of students in housing of the University of California campuses, hosting just 22% of its undergraduate population a decade ago, compared with an average of 38% systemwide.<\/p>\n The school only began to guarantee housing for freshmen during the 2023-24 academic year, after a yearslong effort to expand campus housing supply, spearheaded by former Chancellor Carol Christ. One of the projects she helped get off the ground was Heumann House<\/a>, the university\u2019s 1,100-bed apartment-style housing project set to open next fall.<\/p>\n The development has been controversial on campus and has been decades in the making. It sits on the former site of People\u2019s Park, where students and neighbors\u00a0fought the university\u2019s efforts\u00a0<\/a>to build housing since it acquired the land in the late 1960s.<\/p>\n The university had planned to develop student housing before running out of money. In 1969, residents planted trees and turned it into a park. When the university tried to reclaim the land, it sparked major protests and clashes between local police and park supporters.<\/p>\n For decades, the plot remained mostly undeveloped, serving as a gathering place for students and activists, and a long-standing homeless encampment before\u00a0a state Supreme Court ruling<\/a>\u00a0cleared the way for the university to build. The campus\u00a0quietly broke ground<\/a>\u00a0on its new housing in 2024.<\/p>\n Heumann House, named for disability rights leader Judith Heumann, adds to the campus\u2019s supply of apartment-style housing filled by many transfer students. In 2024, Berkeley opened Anchor House<\/a>, which features around 800 beds in similar units. Together, the projects bring the campus\u2019s housing capacity to 33% of its student population.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Peoples-Park-drone_08272025_Jonathan-Hidalgo-3.jpg\")
A view of construction of Heumann House at People\u2019s Park taken by drone on Aug. 27, 2025. Credit: Jonathan Hidalgo for Berkeleyside<\/p>\n