Learn more about our legislative work

Casita-supported and sponsored bills launched the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU)  revolution and continue to enhance ADU/JADU and middle housing-related state law annually. Our legislative successes catalyzed the  growth of ADUs as the fastest growing housing type in California, with more than 113,000 ADUs permitted since 2017. Our legislative momentum would not be possible without our extended community of  members, supporters, and ecosystem partners. We continue to rely on and appreciate your support letters, petition signatures, and network sharing of our calls to action.

Casita Coalition 2026 Priority Bills

Casita Coalition’s priority bills have all passed their house of origin and have crossed over to their second house!

Our sponsored and supported legislation focuses on reducing the cost of homes and boosting supply. We’re very pleased with progress so far! Stay tuned for opportunities to support these bills!

Bills that successfully passed their house of origin and crossed over to committees in second chamber:

AB 1903 (Wicks) Long-awaited reform to construction defect liability rules that have prevented developers from building low-cost ownership homes as condos.

AB 1815 (Wicks) Prohibits local agency from imposing building standards on factory-built homes (modular/HCD) that exceed CA building code.

AB 748 (Harabedian) Requires cities and counties to have preapproved primary home and multifamily plan programs (catalog homes.)

SB 996 (Padilla) Treat manufactured homes as real property to provide lower-cost, more flexible finance options.

AB 1070 (Ward) Requires a study of how using residential building code for 3-10 units instead of commercial code could save on construction costs.

SB 1196 (McNerney) Addresses long delays in ADU Energization applications and connections.

SB 1117 (Cervantes) Changes how ADU Impact fees are calculated for ADUs larger than 750 square feet to bring down costs.

SB 1116 (Caballero) SB 684/1123 Starter Home Revitalization Act clean-up bill.

Federal policy watch: 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act Passes the House

Today, the U.S. House passed the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act by an overwhelming 396–13 vote. At a time when housing conversations can feel deeply polarized, this vote sends a clear message: America’s housing shortage is too urgent to ignore.

Casita Coalition was proud to join national housing organizations, industry leaders, advocates, and practitioners in supporting this legislation.

Why this matters:
—The bill includes important ADU provisions, including expanded Title I financing pathways and improvements to USDA’s 502 program
—It advances reforms that could help unlock more starter homes and middle housing
—It includes language directing HUD to study and issue guidance on single-stair residential buildings, an important issue for attainable low-rise multifamily housing
—It takes steps toward streamlining environmental reviews for infill housing
—It addresses barriers facing modular and manufactured housing

No single bill solves the housing crisis. But this represents meaningful federal momentum around one core reality: We need to build more homes. Now the Senate has an opportunity to continue that momentum.

We’re also encouraged to see momentum continue in California, where SB 1116, a clean-up bill for the Starter Home Revitalization Act (SB 684/SB 1123), passed the CA state Senate unanimously this week.

From starter homes to middle housing and modular construction, the conversation is evolving. The focus is increasingly shifting from whether we should build more housing to how we actually make it happen.

AB 2533 (Carrillo) Unpermitted Unit Legalization—Now in Implementation Phase—Download the Info Sheet

This important new law helps to preserve existing informal ADU rentals and the important role they play for homeowners while ensuring the safety of tenants. The new law specifies the code standards local agencies must use to assess safety, cuts fees and charges for lower resourced homeowners, and requires cities to provide a checklist of standards that units will have to meet, upfront.

Download the info sheet for jurisdiction staff and ADU professionals.

AB 1033 (Ting) Separate Sale of ADUs as Condos—Now in Implementation Phase—Download the Info Sheet

Only 15% of Californians can afford to purchase a home. The economic impacts to the state, communities and families are immense. In the many places in the US where this is common, ADU condos commonly sell for 30-40% less than single detached homes. The new rule allows cities and counties to opt in to this allowance under AB 1033, creating an attainable new starter home supply for those priced out of the market and helping to redress historic housing harms. Congratulations to the cities and counties who have opted in:

○ San Jose
○ Santa Cruz
○ Santa Monica
○ West Hollywood
○ City of San Diego
○ County of San Diego
○ Martinez
○ Berkeley
○ San Francisco
○ Sebastopol
○ Culver City
○ Stockton

Several more cities have indicated that opt-in steps are in progress, including City of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Want to encourage your city to opt in? Download our info sheet now.

Thank you for helping us protect our collective housing policy wins

Casita Coalition monitors the legislative and regulatory landscapes for both opportunities and threats, and we have had to rapidly and effectively address and eliminate significant threats to middle housing progress on several occasions. Two examples below:

State-exempt ADU law interpretation: We took action to reinforce the legislative intent that established the ‘by-right’ state exempt category. If unchallenged, this would have set back CA ADU law by many years and decimated the factory-built ADU industry

SB 1055 (Min) undermined state ADU law that protects homeowner rights

• This bill proposed a dangerous precedent by 'rewarding' cities and counties that have met their Regional Housing Needs Allocation goals for the year for affordable housing by allowing them to reduce the height standards of attached ADUs to 16', below current state law, and shorter than the home the ADU is attached to in some cases

• It would create a confusing patchwork of standards that would change each year, reducing ADU production and disproportionately burdening lower resourced homeowners and builders

• Current ADU height standards are reasonable and based on local zoning for the property--and make ADUs above garages possible when attached to 2-story homes

ADU policy wins have permitted more than 113,000 ADU homes over the last seven years. Your collective action has kept these attainable homes possible for Californians.