After two years of working diligently with the state, Lafayette’s Housing Element has been officially certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development.
Lafayette’s eight-year housing program was certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on March 28, 2025. This comes after HCD stated in July 2024 that Lafayette’s 6th Cycle Housing Element would meet the requirements of State Housing Law once the re-zoning was adopted by the City and submitted to HCD. The City Council adopted the rezoning on January 13, 2025 and submitted it to HCD on January 30, 2025.
City Manager Niroop K. Srivatsa said, “We are happy to announce that HCD has certified Lafayette’s Housing Element Update inclusive of the rezoning that the City Council initiated last year. This certified 2023-2031 Housing Element was created with significant community input and countless hours of work and analysis by City Staff and our consultants.”
Lafayette Mayor Susan Candell said, “Cities across the state, not just Lafayette, have struggled to have their housing elements certified by the state during this 6th cycle. I am so appreciative to our staff, our commissions and committees, and our residents who have all worked on this together to achieve this certification. This is a real accomplishment for Lafayette!”
The City of Lafayette originally submitted its Draft Housing Element Update to the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on June 30, 2022 and then received multiple rounds of comments and requests for new information from the state that required revisions.
While the City of Lafayette does not develop housing, its certified Housing Element includes the zoning and land use regulations to guide where development occurs as well as policies and programs to facilitate meeting housing needs allocation across all affordability levels.
Lafayette has a number of housing projects that are under construction or have already been entitled and are in the pipeline to be built. The City is also reviewing a number of proposed projects including 90 units proposed at 1001 Oak Hill Road, 15 units proposed across from the
3675 Mount Diablo Boulevard, Suite 210, Lafayette, CA 94549 Phone: 925.284.1968 www.ci.lafayette.ca.us
Lafayette BART station at Oak Hill Place, and 48-units proposed by an affordable housing developer at 949 Moraga Road.
Earlier this month, Housing Action Coalition filed a lawsuit against the City of Lafayette over its Housing Element. “We will vigorously defend ourselves against this lawsuit,” said Srivatsa.
A link to the Housing Element Update and background information is available online at www.planlafayette.org.