LIVERMORE\u00a0\u2014 The City of Livermore issued building permits for 422 new units in 2025, the highest annual number since the start of its 2023-2031 Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) cycle.<\/p>\n
Of the 2025 total, approximately 34% (144 units) were in the extremely low, very low and low-income categories. The remaining units were concentrated in the moderate (28%) and above moderate (37%) categories.<\/p>\n
Now in its third year of the current RHNA cycle, the city has permitted 908 units out of its total allocation of 4,570\u00a0\u2014 approximately 20% of its overall target.<\/p>\n
Most of this progress has occurred in the above-moderate (467 units) and moderate-income categories (235 units). Comparatively fewer units were produced in the extremely low, very low and low-income categories, according to the city\u2019s 2025 Housing Element Annual Report.<\/p>\n
The major residential projects approved in 2025 included Cornerstone, with 253 units (114) affordable; East Avenue \u201cAbboud\u201d Townhomes, with 13 units (one affordable); and Pacific and Livermore Townhomes, with 115 units (17 affordable).<\/p>\n
On top of its housing element programs, the city secured a $1.6 million local housing fund award to help advance construction of the Pacific Avenue senior apartments. Officials also continued to implement its accessory dwelling unit (ADU) support programs in partnership with homeowners leveraging state accelerator rebates.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s been good progress on the number of units,\u201d said City Councilmember Steven Dunbar. \u201cWe\u2019re not up to the percentage yet against the total number per year\u00a0\u2014 almost no one is\u00a0\u2014 but we are making progress in the right direction.\u201d<\/p>\n
The city\u2019s 2023-2031 housing element is a state-required part of the city\u2019s general plan that outlines how Livermore will accommodate the housing needs across varying income levels.<\/p>\n
The 2025 housing report provides an overview of the city\u2019s housing production and implementation over the past calendar year, which the city is required to submit to the state by April 1.<\/p>\n
With five years left to meet the remaining 80% of its RHNA target, Livermore is behind on its state-mandated housing goals. However, it saw a noticeable increase in low- and very low- income housing. For the first time in 2025, the city issued permits within the extremely low-income category, amounting to 39 units.<\/p>\n
Livermore\u2019s effort comes as many California cities face mounting pressure to keep up with the state laws.<\/p>\n
On March 25, just days after Livermore adopted its report, Governor Gavin Newsom issued a final warning to 15 cities and counties noncompliant with state laws which require them to plan for the housing needs of residents across all income levels.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m disappointed on behalf of the state and the people of California that after years of effort, we still have communities that aren\u2019t meeting the needs of their residents,\u201d Governor Newsom said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no carve-out here,\u201d Newsom said. No community gets a pass when it comes to addressing homelessness or creating more housing access. We\u2019ll keep pushing forward by enforcing the law, fighting NIMBY actions, and holding local governments accountable, because every Californian deserves a place to call home.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among the communities that received final warnings from California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) were Atwater, Avenal, California City, Corcoran, Escalon, Half Moon Bay, Hanford, Kings County, Lemoore, Merced County, Montclair, Oakdale, Patterson, Ridgecrest and Turlock.<\/p>\n
According to an HCD press release, these communities remain more than two years behind schedule and have housing elements which do not demonstrate a near-term path to compliance with state law, \u201cdespite extensive and ongoing technical assistance from HCD.\u201d<\/p>\n
This crackdown reflects a stricter approach California has adopted in recent years.<\/p>\n
Newsom established HCD\u2019s Housing Accountability Unit (HAU) in 2021 to ensure each community meets its obligations. In 2024, the unit\u2019s oversight was expanded to include monitoring efforts to address homelessness.<\/p>\n
With seven of the warned communities located in the Northern Central Valley, many of the surrounding areas are feeling the pressure. In the Tri-Valley, homes remain unaffordable even to moderate-income households without down-payment assistance.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in this catch-22 where our ability to find impact fees, which make it possible to have safe roads, working sewer systems, water and all the things that create a quality city, are being threatened by the state if we don\u2019t build enough low and very low housing,\u201d said Livermore Councilmember Evan Branning.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is a statewide issue, there is no easy solution and I want to really commend how well our staff has done at trying to find as many solutions as possible and move forward with the housing that we need.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LIVERMORE\u00a0\u2014 The City of Livermore issued building permits for 422 new units in 2025, the highest annual number…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[147],"tags":[544,4456,4457,4466,4453,4450,4462,4461,542,4458,4459,4464,4452,4451,4449,4455,4454,4467,4463,4465,4460],"class_list":{"0":"post-3741","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gavin-newsom","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-city","10":"tag-california-department-of-housing","11":"tag-california-department-of-housing-and-community-development","12":"tag-community-development","13":"tag-el-camino-viejo","14":"tag-evan-branning","15":"tag-forward","16":"tag-gavin-newsom","17":"tag-governor","18":"tag-hcds-housing-accountability-unit","19":"tag-kings-county","20":"tag-lawrence-livermore","21":"tag-livermore","22":"tag-livermore-valley","23":"tag-merced-county","24":"tag-moon-bay","25":"tag-northern-central-valley","26":"tag-sewer-systems","27":"tag-state-law","28":"tag-steven-dunbar"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116333995710357677","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}