{"id":329541,"date":"2026-05-23T16:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-05-23T16:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329541\/"},"modified":"2026-05-23T16:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-05-23T16:32:20","slug":"in-the-race-for-la-mayor-voters-face-starkly-different-choices-on-citys-approach-to-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/329541\/","title":{"rendered":"In the race for LA mayor, voters face starkly different choices on city\u2019s approach to housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Survey after survey shows that the cost of housing is a top concern<\/a> for Los Angeles voters. And the issue sharply divides candidates vying for mayor in the June 2 primary.<\/p>\n

Mayor Karen Bass says her efforts to fast-track affordable housing<\/a> are working. But few apartments have been built so far. She has fought to keep new apartments out of most of the city\u2019s residential neighborhoods, pleasing homeowners but angering some housing advocates.<\/p>\n

City Councilmember Nithya Raman has said her different vision for tackling housing affordability was pivotal in her decision to run against Bass. Citing unaffordable rents and home prices, Raman has promised to accelerate building<\/a> in more parts of the city.<\/p>\n

Raman\u2019s housing platform has won her the backing of many in the Yes In My Backyard (YIMBY) movement. But critics say her support of density could drastically transform some single-family neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Learn the ins and outs behind L.A.’s housing crisis.<\/p>\n

Sign up for Building Your Block, a seven-issue newsletter course from LAist that explains the obstacles around housing development in L.A. and what you can do to make things better.<\/p>\n

Political outsider Spencer Pratt has promised a downtown L.A. housing boom once he \u201cgets rid of\u201d tens of thousands of unhoused people. But he has been called out<\/a> for spreading false information about state housing legislation.<\/p>\n

Other candidates have presented their own ideas about the city\u2019s housing affordability issues, but they\u2019re behind in the polls.<\/p>\n

Here are where the top three candidates stand on housing in L.A.<\/p>\n

What Bass says she\u2019s accomplished so far<\/p>\n

When asked what she has done to bring down rents, Bass has pointed to a program she created in her first week in office: Executive Directive One. It speeds up city approvals<\/a> of 100% affordable apartment projects.<\/p>\n

By some metrics, ED1 has been a major success. After the program launched, developers flooded the city with applications.<\/p>\n

L.A.\u2019s Planning Department has received plans for 43,360 apartments since ED1 launched in December 2022 and has approved 34,298 of them. Under the directive, developers must agree to keep all units in these buildings affordable to low and moderate-income Angelenos.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Karen Bass<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the campaign<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

But few of those units are actually getting built. The city\u2019s Building and Safety Department says 8,058 apartments have been issued building permits. Only 298 have received certificates of occupancy, the last step in getting an apartment ready to rent to tenants.<\/p>\n

In a recent mayoral debate, Bass said some variables are out of her control.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the factors are the price of construction materials, just the general economy,\u201d Bass said. \u201cWe are doing everything we can to make sure we are able to fast-track that housing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bass has also said the city\u2019s adaptive reuse program<\/a>, which allows office buildings to be converted into housing, has enabled the creation of more than 43,000 potential units. <\/p>\n

The Building and Safety Department told LAist it could only find two units that have received certificates of occupancy since she took office. However, the city-wide expansion of this program, building off an older program limited to downtown L.A. and some other urban cores, only took effect in February 2026.<\/p>\n

Do apartments belong in single-family neighborhoods?<\/p>\n

Bass has scaled back ED1 from its original design. She banned projects<\/a> in historic zones and on many lots with existing rent-controlled apartments. She also blocked projects in the nearly three-quarters of residential land reserved for single-family homes.<\/p>\n

Bass says new housing belongs on commercial main streets, so homeowners in single-family zones don\u2019t have to see apartments going up next to their lots. That\u2019s one of the reasons she asked Governor Gavin Newsom to veto Senate Bill 79<\/a>, a major new state housing law allowing taller, denser apartment buildings near transit stops, including in some single-family zones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Raman has said she views this issue differently. She has said all kinds of neighborhoods need to accept denser housing. She defended an ED1 project<\/a> in a single-family neighborhood in her district, even as city leaders tried to kill it. Courts eventually ruled<\/a> the city fought that project illegally.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Los Angeles City Councilmember Nithya Raman announced Saturday that she is running for mayor.<\/p>\n

Joining a minority of City Council members, Raman voted not to oppose SB 79<\/a>. She has said young families are leaving L.A. because they can\u2019t afford housing, and the city should do more to plan for increased density throughout the city, including in some single-family neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe desperately need this housing,\u201d Raman said in a recent debate. \u201cWhat I want to do is go out here and not lie to you that we can keep everything the same, and Sacramento will not intervene. That is not possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Raman has said that as mayor, she\u2019ll make departments respond to zoning-compliant housing applications within 60 days.<\/p>\n

Pratt\u2019s plan for a downtown building boom<\/p>\n

On his Substack<\/a>, Pratt has said that L.A.\u2019s housing supply shortage is \u201ca myth.\u201d But the former reality TV star also promised on a recent podcast to \u201cspeed up building\u201d and work with architects to \u201cbring Art Deco back.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a recent debate, Pratt said as mayor he\u2019d get up to 20,000 apartments built in downtown L.A. by removing unhoused people.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m gonna have 40 blocks when I get rid of all the drug addicts that are sleeping on the sides of all these empty buildings,\u201d Pratt said. \u201cWe will have so much high-density\u2026 We have plenty of places to build. We don\u2019t need to put a seven-story cement structure in a single-family neighborhood with no parking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Spencer Pratt<\/p>\n

(<\/p>\n

Courtesy of the campaign<\/p>\n

)<\/p>\n

Last year, Pratt drew attention on social media for opposing SB 79. He said the law would bring high-rises<\/a> to the Pacific Palisades, where his home burned down.<\/p>\n

Critics pointed out that was never true, because there are no qualifying transit stops in the Palisades.<\/p>\n

What about the city\u2019s controversial ‘mansion tax’?\u00a0<\/p>\n

In 2022, L.A. voters passed Measure ULA, perhaps better known as the city\u2019s \u201cmansion tax.\u201d It has taxed the sale of real estate valued at $5 million or more. It applies not just to single-family mansions, but also to apartment buildings and other commercial real estate.<\/p>\n

Economists argue the tax has led to a slow-down<\/a> in apartment construction at a time when L.A. needs more housing. Defenders say it has raised more than $1 billion for affordable housing construction and tenant aid programs.<\/p>\n

Raman surprised many of her colleagues earlier this year when she proposed<\/a> putting a measure on the June ballot to ask voters to exempt apartments built within the last 15 years. That effort failed, but Raman has continued to push for changes to Measure ULA.<\/p>\n

Last year, Bass asked state lawmakers to pull<\/a> a last-minute bill aimed at similar reforms, saying more tweaks were needed to get the policy right.<\/p>\n

Pratt has said he would push for a full repeal of Measure ULA. The Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association has qualified a measure<\/a> for the November ballot that, if passed, would do just that.<\/p>\n

Where do the candidates stand on rent hikes and tenant protections?\u00a0<\/p>\n

As housing committee chair, Raman has said she pushed the council to pass the first update to the city\u2019s rent control limits<\/a> in 40 years. She has also said her efforts to pass new tenant eviction protections<\/a> and legal aid programs <\/a>are helping keep vulnerable renters housed.<\/p>\n

Bass also supported the city\u2019s new, lower rent hike limits. She says she\u2019s been working with the Mayors Fund, an outside nonprofit, to provide eviction defense<\/a> services to many tenants.<\/p>\n

Pratt has said<\/a> that state and city tenant protections amount to \u201csquatter\u2019s rights.\u201d He has said he will work with the city attorney to streamline evictions and remove tenants within 72 hours.<\/p>\n