Los Angeles County has a long way to go before fixing its housing shortage after decades of building too little housing to meet growing demand.
Over a 40-year period since the 1970s, California built 325 new housing units for every 1,000 new people added to the state population, LAist reported.
In order to meet the crisis, the state would have to plan to build 2.5 million new homes between 2021 and 2029, more than double its target for the previous eight-year housing production cycle. With three years to go, Southern California still needs to plan for 1.3 million new homes to meet state goals. All of the cities in Los Angeles County are responsible for a combined total of 812,000 units; of those, 450,000 would come from the City of Los Angeles.
In order to meet the lofty housing creation goals, the 88 cities in Los Angeles County would have to add roughly 101,500 units per year to stay on track. In 2024, the municipalities together built 28,453, LAist reported, citing data from the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Zoning rules have been a major hurdle as cities across Los Angeles County lag in creating housing density. When Los Angeles received its mission to build 450,000 new homes, the city’s regulations only allowed for about half of those units to be built. As a result, the city had to update its laws about what kinds of housing can be built and where.
Red tape and slow bureaucratic processes have bogged down the approval process as various departments review plans and some projects face public hearings, lawsuits, City Council discussions and other obstacles.
Construction costs also have made developers wary of taking on new projects. Supply chain disruptions, scarce materials, labor shortages, inflation and other factors have thrown wrenches into development plans. Relief with regard to imported materials likely won’t come soon, given President Donald Trump’s commitment to a new 10 percent global tariff despite the Supreme Court striking down his sweeping tariffs from last year.
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