California Reforms CEQA: What 2025 Housing Laws Mean for Homeowners

California Reforms CEQA: What 2025 Housing Laws Mean for Homeowners

  • Hannah Laird
  • 07/7/25

Landmark California Housing Reform: What Homeowners Should Know

  • On June 30, 2025, Governor Gavin Newsom signed two major housing bills (AB 130 and SB 131)
  • They mark one of the biggest changes to California’s housing policy in decades
  • These new laws limit the power of CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, which has long been used to delay or block housing projects
  • By streamlining approvals for most urban housing, these laws aim to address what Newsom calls “a crisis of supply” and stimulate a construction boom

What Changed

  • Many housing projects in existing urban areas will no longer require full environmental review under CEQA
  • Projects that miss one or two CEQA criteria will only need to address those issues, rather than undergo a full-scale review
  • Minimum parking requirements near public transit have been reduced or removed to allow more efficient use of space
  • The overall goal is to make housing faster and cheaper to build

Why Homeowners Should Care

  • You may start to see more construction activity in your neighborhood over the next few years, especially on underused or larger lots
  • Under SB 9, a 2021 California law, single-family homeowners (that qualify) are allowed to split their lot and build up to four units, two homes on each resulting parcel
  • If your property qualifies under SB 9 or ADU rules, it may now be faster and easier to move forward with building
  • This could increase the value and flexibility of your property, whether you're considering adding a rental unit, redeveloping, or selling to a developer.

 

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