September 15, 2026
Community Development
DATE: September 15, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM:
Lina Velasco, Director of Community Development
Avery Stark, Planning Manager
Subject:
2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report
FINANCIAL IMPACT: There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
Preparing and accepting the Annual Progress Report
does not require an expenditure of funds, and no budget adjustments or appropriations are needed. However,
jurisdictions that do not submit the required Annual
Progress Report are ineligible for certain State grant
programs, including One Bay Area Grant funds.
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
California Government Code Section 65400 requires
jurisdictions (cities and counties) to prepare an Annual Progress Report (APR) to their legislative body, the State Department of Housing and Community Development
(HCD), and the Governor’s Office of Planning and
Research (OPR) describing the status of implementing
the General Plan’s Housing Element. The 2025 APR
includes information on the City’s progress in addressing the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and the
status of housing policies/programs listed in the 2023- 2031 City of Richmond Housing Element.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: RECEIVE a report and ADOPT a resolution accepting the 2025 Annual Progress Report for the City’s Housing
Element 2023-2031 - Community Development
Department (Lina Velasco/Avery Stark 510-620-6714).
AGENDA
REPORT
September 15, 2026
DISCUSSION:
California Government Code Section 65400 requires jurisdictions to prepare and submit an Annual Progress Report (APR) to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), and the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (formerly known as the Office of Planning and Research (OPR)) describing the City’s progress in addressing the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and the status of housing policies/programs listed in the adopted Housing Element. The RHNA is allocated to Bay Area cities by the Association of Bay Area Governments for a planning period. The planning period for the current RHNA is 2023-2031, also known as the 6th cycle. Below is a summary table of Richmond’s RHNA and unit performance for the calendar years 2023-2025. The unit data reported represents building permits issued.
Table A: Richmond RHNA Progress and Permitted Units by Affordability, 2023-2025
Income Level RHNA
Allocation
Projection
Period
(6/30/2022
–
1/30/2023)
2023 2024 2025 Total Units
to Date Remaining
Acutely Low - 0 0 0 0 0 0
Extremely Low - 0 0 0 0 0 0
Very Low 840 0 0 14 48 62 778
Low 485 0 0 10 0 10 475
Moderate 638 0 2 22 1 25 613
Above
Moderate 1,651 49 132 97 99 377 1,274
Total 3,614 49 134 143 148 474 3,140
HCD provides forms and instructions for preparation of the APR. The APR provides a snapshot of housing unit production across affordability levels and provides an update on housing program implementation. The APR must be considered by the City Council at a public meeting, during which the City should receive any public comments. The City submitted a copy of the 2025 APR to the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and the Governor’s Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation (LCI) by April 1, 2026.
The current Housing Element was adopted on January 24, 2023, and certified by HCD on October 2, 2023.
September 15, 2026
The 2025 APR provides the number of housing units for which the City-issued building permits, both in the aggregate and by affordability levels according to State-defined income levels, during calendar year 2025 (Exhibit A of Attachment 2). The APR also identifies progress made on implementation programs included in the City’s Housing Element. It should be noted that timelines assigned to the various implementation programs are estimates only, subject to resource availability. In summary, the City entitled 56 residential units, 148 building permits were issued, and 94 units received certificates of occupancy in 2025. The City is at about 15 percent of its total RHNA and should be closer to 36 percent.
Since 2023, housing production has been constrained by a combination of sharply higher interest rates, elevated construction and insurance costs, limited affordable- housing subsidies, and continuing regulatory and infrastructure costs. These conditions have created a growing feasibility gap in which many projects may receive local approvals but cannot secure financing or generate sufficient returns to proceed to construction.
During 2025, an additional 49 units of affordable housing were added to Richmond’s existing inventory of 3,761 affordable units, increasing the total to 3,810 units. This was mostly due to the City’s Homekey project with 45 Civic Center, LP in which the city purchased a motel to convert it into permanent supportive housing units for the chronically homeless. Richmond’s 3,810 affordable housing units represent approximately 9 percent of the city’s estimated 42,406 total housing units, based on the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey.¹
Richmond has made great progress in building affordable housing over the past decades and in meeting its regional housing needs allocation for very low income in the most recent planning cycle. Relative to Contra Costa County jurisdictions, Richmond is amongst the leaders in affordable housing production. Yet, the need for affordable housing still exists. Richmond residents experience the impacts of a regional and statewide housing shortage in addition to a growing gap between wages and housing costs. These dual pressures mean there is much more the City of Richmond must do to meet the needs of its current residents.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
HCD reporting requirements do not constitute a “project” subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(5) in that completing the APR is an administrative activity of a governmental organization that will not result in direct or indirect changes in the environment.
SYNERGISTIC POLICIES:
This action is consistent with Housing Element Program 1.H. Annual Progress Reports which calls for the City to utilize the forms and definitions adopted by the State HCD to
September 15, 2026
prepare Annual Progress Reports on the on-going implementation of the City’s Housing Element Programs.
CONCLUSION:
This is an annual obligation of the City and City staff are seeking City Council acceptance, by resolution, of the 2025 Housing Element Annual Progress Report (Attachment 1).
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Draft Resolution
Attachment 2 – Exhibit A - 2025 Annual Progress Report