An act to amend Section 65400 of the Government Code, relating to land use.
Summary
AB 726 amends Government Code Section 65400, which governs the annual report that cities and counties must submit on their general plans and housing element progress. The bill allows local agencies to count, in that annual report, certain existing deed-restricted affordable housing units that are at least 15 years old and have been substantially rehabilitated with at least $60,000 per unit in local funds. To qualify, the units must have an average affordability no greater than 45 percent of area median income. The bill also updates a reference from the Office of Planning and Research to the Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation.
The bill further specifies that any rehabilitated units reported under this new provision may not be used when determining affordability requirements for streamlined housing approvals under Section 65913.4. In addition, AB 726 is tied to a companion measure, AB 670: if both bills were enacted and AB 726 was enacted after AB 670, the overlapping amendments would be governed by the bill’s special operative clause. The measure was chaptered as Chapter 704, Statutes of 2025.
Impact
AB 726 narrows and clarifies the contents of the annual housing element report required of cities and counties under Government Code Section 65400. Its main legal effect is to create a new optional reporting category for substantially rehabilitated, deed-restricted affordable housing units, while expressly preventing those units from being counted toward affordability thresholds for streamlined approval eligibility. Local planning agencies must also continue reporting a broad set of housing production, approval, demolition, and related planning data, and the Department of Housing and Community Development retains review and posting responsibilities. The bill affects cities, counties, planning agencies, and housing developers seeking streamlined approvals under state housing law.
Sentiment
The bill appears to have been broadly noncontroversial and received unanimous support at every recorded committee and floor vote. It moved through the Legislature with repeated do-pass recommendations, including consent-calendar treatment, and passed both houses without any recorded opposition. The voting pattern suggests general agreement with the bill’s limited, technical adjustment to housing reporting rules and its treatment of rehabilitated affordable housing units.
Contention
There is little evidence of substantive controversy in the available record, and no committee transcript excerpts were provided. The only identifiable policy issue is whether rehabilitated affordable units should be allowed to count in annual housing reports, balanced against the bill’s explicit prohibition on using those units to satisfy streamlined-approval affordability requirements. The companion-bill operative clause with AB 670 is another technical point, but it appears to be a coordination mechanism rather than a source of disagreement.
An act to amend Sections 51178 and 51181 of the Government Code, and to amend Sections 4202 and 4204 of the Public Resources Code, relating to land use.