The Housing Element Update builds upon and revises the goals, policies, and programs of the existing Housing Element to ensure that the City can meet the housing needs of all Long Beach residents through 2029, when the plan is scheduled to the updated again.
The Housing Element provides the City with a roadmap for accommodating the projected number of housing units needed to house existing and future City residents and guides future decisions that impact housing. The Housing Element aims to achieve several overarching goals:
- Accommodate projected housing demand, as mandated by the State,
- Increase housing production to meet this demand,
- Improve housing affordability,
- Preserve existing affordable housing,
- Improve the safety, quality, and condition of existing housing,
- Facilitate the development of housing for all income levels and household types, including special needs populations,
- Improve the livability and economic prosperity of all City residents, and
- Promote fair housing choices for all.
In the current housing and economic climate, a major focus of the Housing Element will be on removing barriers to housing production to counter well-documented housing shortages, as well as addressing homelessness and ensuring the availability and fair distribution of affordable housing throughout the City to reverse existing patterns of segregation and concentrated poverty.