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California: Governor Newsom awards $11.3 million to 13 prohousing communities to build more affordable housing 

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Aug 20, 2026

Governor Newsom awards $11.3 million to 13 prohousing communities to build more affordable housing

What you need to know: California continues its steadfast and transformational approach to creating more housing and reducing homelessness, with $11.3 million in awards to advance innovative solutions in prohousing communities.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that 13 California communities which have earned the state's coveted Prohousing Designation, will receive $11.3 million in new state funding to create new affordable housing. These communities have gone above-and-beyond in their efforts to create housing for residents of all income levels. Through programs such as the prohousing designation, increased accountability, and foundational reforms – California is reversing a decades-in-the-making housing shortage and reducing homelessness.

Investing in our communities by creating more homes is an investment in California's future — fostering greater stability, strengthening families, and building more resilient communities for generations to come. Through strong local partnerships, we're delivering results and creating more opportunities for Californians to have a safe, affordable place to call home.

Governor Gavin Newsom

The funding was awarded through the fourth round of the Prohousing Incentive Program. Administered by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the program has awarded $70.3 million in funds to help scale up innovative local housing solutions.

"In California, it pays to be prohousing, and this award is proof," said California Housing and Homelessness Secretary Tomiquia Moss. "Our Prohousing Designation Program is a national leader in embracing creative solutions to increasing affordable housing development. Thanks to the incredible work of our local prohousing partners across the state, these funds will directly lead to more affordable homes, rapid rehousing services, and emergency shelters, benefitting countless Californians now and in the years to come."

Today's awardees include the cities of Arvin, Benicia, Vista, Culver City, Indio, Lancaster, Santa Ana, Santa Barbara, Sunnyvale, Woodland, and the counties of Nevada, Santa Barbara, and Trinity.

Creating more affordable housing

The state awards the Prohousing Designation to cities and counties that demonstrate they are going above and beyond to do their part in addressing the state's crisis of housing affordability and homelessness by enacting bold, locally driven policies that accelerate housing production, lower costs, and expand opportunity. Prohousing policies include streamlining multifamily housing development, up-zoning in places near jobs and transit to reduce emissions, and creating more affordable homes in places that historically or currently exclude households of color and those earning lower incomes.

Seventy-five California jurisdictions now hold HCD's Prohousing Designation, making them eligible for the PIP program – and other state funding opportunities. PIP awards go to the jurisdictions  tackling California's decades-old housing crisis—in the form of additional funding for housing and community development activities. Since October 2025, ten California jurisdictions earned the Prohousing Designation for the first time. They include the cities of Arvin, Benicia, Chico, Culver City, Fort Bragg, Marina, Sand City, and Santa Barbara, and the counties of Santa Barbara and Trinity. Over that same period, the cities of Fontana, Oakland, Roseville, Sacramento, and West Sacramento were redesignated as Prohousing designees.

"Prohousing communities are embracing real, forward-thinking solutions, and this designation signals to residents, builders, and funders that these communities are ready to get homes built by cutting red tape," said HCD Director Gustavo Velasquez. "These PIP funds acknowledge the proactive choices they have made and help them scale up innovative solutions to get more homes built at all income levels."

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An approach that works

In addition to today's announcement, Governor Newsom is creating a structural and foundational model across the state that will have positive impacts for generations to come.

The Governor is streamlining and prioritizing building new housing, funding new shelters, housing, and supports, addressing mental health and its impact on homelessness through voter-approved Proposition 1, and creating new pathways for those who need it most through updated conservatorship laws and a new CARE court system. California is also addressing encampments statewide to help get people off the streets and into care.

In addition to celebrating good work by communities with prohousing designations, Governor Newsom and the legislature have created strong accountability measures to ensure that communities who fail to plan and create housing for their residents can face the consequences. Governor Newsom established HCD's Housing Accountability Unit in 2021 to ensure that every community is meeting its obligations to plan for housing and follow state housing laws. In 2024, Governor Newsom expanded the unit's oversight to also include monitoring cities' and counties' efforts to address homelessness. The Accountability Unit has "unlocked" 13,988 housing units, including over 3,960 affordable units, that may otherwise have been stuck in the local planning process.

All this work is creating positive results.

California's investments have created immediate, measurable results and the critical foundation necessary to finally solve California's housing and homelessness crisis. Governor Newsom's policies have had a significant impact:
  • Historic drops in homelessness — California achieved the largest statewide reduction in unsheltered homelessness in 16 years. New federal data also shows California last year saw:
    • Largest reduction in unsheltered homelessness in the nation. California reduced unsheltered homelessness by 8,391 people, or 6.8% — more than any other state. That decline is more than twice the national reduction of 2.9% and significantly exceeds that of the next-largest state by population, Texas, which saw a 1.4% decrease.
    • Total homelessness declined. California's overall homeless population dropped by 2.8% — the state's largest numerical decline since 2009.
    • Leading the nation in reducing homelessness in key populations. From 2023 to 2025, California ranked first among all states and the District of Columbia in reducing the numbers of veteran homelessness, chronic homelessness, homelessness among young adults ages 18-24, and homelessness among parents under 25.

In addition, Governor Newsom is addressing a housing shortage that has been decades in the making. Since 2019:
  • Building is happening faster — Annual residential construction has increased by 59%, from 70,000 homes built in 2018 to about 111,000 in 2024.
  • Multifamily construction has reached its highest level in decades — Over the last five years, more multifamily housing units have been built than in any five-year period in over 30 years, and more than 682,000 homes overall have been built statewide since 2019.
  • Approval times have been slashed — Streamlining laws enacted since 2019 have cut average time from development application to entitlement by 57%, from 160 days to 68 days in 2024. The time from entitlement to permit also dropped by 9%.
  • Communities are ready to build more — Through Governor Newsom's work to ensure all jurisdictions do their part, communities throughout the state have laid the groundwork and have planned to accommodate at least 3.6 million new homes, including 1.4 million affordable units, moving California closer to meeting its long-term housing needs.

More information on the Prohousing Designation Program can be found at https://www.hcd.ca.gov/planning-and-research/prohousing.

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More information on the Prohousing Incentive Program can be found at https://www.hcd.ca.gov/funding/pip.

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