The One About RHNA

Throughout California, there is a housing affordability crisis spurred by a mounting shortage of housing supply. State housing officials estimate that more than 1.3 million homes need to be built in the six-county SCAG region between October 2021 and October 2029. In an effort to address this issue, the Regional Housing Needs Assessment, also known as RHNA, is mandated by State Housing Law as part of the periodic process of updating local housing elements of a jurisdiction’s General Plan. On this episode of the COGCast, Ma’Ayn Johnson, Housing Program Manager at the Southern California Association of Governments, answers two major questions: What is RHNA? And what does it mean for jurisdictions?