Background

In 2017, Governor Brown signed Senate Bill 2 (SB 2), titled the "Building Homes and Jobs Act," which was adopted in conjunction with other housing legislation. This law specifically establishes a permanent ongoing source of funding dedicated to promoting and facilitating affordable housing development. The source of funding is secured through a fee that is imposed at the time of recording for every real estate instrument, paper, or notice for each single real estate transaction on a parcel of property. Sales of single-family homes are exempt from this fee. The fee of $75 became effective January 1, 2018.

The State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) administers the SB 2 Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) program. The revenues collected for the PLHA program will be used to implement planning policies and facilitate the production of affordable housing and homelessness prevention programs throughout California. Under this grant program, local governments that are entitlement cities and receive Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funding are eligible for this grant funding. As an entitlement City, Irvine's PLHA funding allocation will be based upon the federal formula used to allocate CDBG funding. 

Eligible PLHA activities include, but are not limited to, the following:

  1. Acquisition and development costs for affordable, multi-family rental housing;
  2. Acquisition and development costs for affordable rental and ownership housing, including accessory dwelling units;
  3. Preservation and creation of permanent supportive housing;
  4. Assisting persons experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including rapid re-housing, rental assistance, operating and capital costs for emergency shelters, and creation and preservation of permanent and transitional housing;
  5. Accessibility modifications in lower-income, owner-occupied housing; and
  6. Homeownership opportunities, including down payment assistance.

To be eligible for grant funds, the local government agency must have:

  1. A certified and compliant Housing Element;
  2. Completed the Annual Progress Report (APR) on the Housing Element and submitted the APR to HCD, per state law.

The City of Irvine is compliant with both of these requirements.

PLHA Five-Year Plan and Amendment

The PLHA program requires the preparation of a Five-Year Plan (for funds generated in 2019-2023) outlining the proposed use of these funds. The City Council approved the five-year plan May 26, 2020, for affordable rental housing development activities. The five-year plan was subsequently amended and approved by City Council February 27, 2024.

This initial plan amendment planned to use generated funds from the revenue collection period 2020-2023 for the acquisition of a Bridge Housing Facility. With that activity no longer moving forward, the City of Irvine (City) has prepared a revised Five-Year PLHA Plan Amendment for funds generated in 2020-2023 to be used for new eligible activities. The PLHA Five-Year Plan Amendment includes reallocating up to 40 percent of Years 2 through 5 to the City’s new Workforce Down Payment Assistance Program to meet the PLHA Affordable Owner-Occupied Workforce Housing requirement. It will also use funds for predevelopment and development costs of affordable rental units. In addition, the City will use no more than five percent of the PLHA funding for costs related to the administration of activities for which the allocation was made.

City staff presented the five-year plan amendment to the City Council May 12, 2026.

PLHA Five-Year Plan Amendment

The public is invited to review the plan and provide comments by email to affordablehousing@cityofirvine.org. Written comments can also be mailed to:

City Manager's Office – Housing Services
1 Civic Center Plaza
Irvine, CA 92606

Additionally, the public can attend the City Council meeting on February 27 to provide oral comments or participate via Zoom. For more information, visit cityofirvine.org/ictv and select "City Council Meetings."