Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA)

Since 1969, cities and counties in California have been required to plan for future housing needs for all income levels by including a Housing Element in their General Plan. Every 8 years, housing needs are assessed within the different regions of California. After identifying regional housing needs, the total number of housing units projected to be needed for each income level is distributed among the jurisdictions in the region. This is called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation or “RHNA” (pronounced “reena”). Jurisdictions must then update their Housing Elements to identify policies and specific locations for residential development to provide the opportunity to reach the jurisdiction’s RHNA allocation.

The Bay Area region’s 2023-2031 RHNA process started in October 2019. The draft housing allocation for Saratoga and other jurisdictions is expected by spring 2021 with the final allocation being provided by winter 2021. Jurisdictions will then use their individual RHNA allocation to submit a draft updated Housing Element to HCD in 2022 and to adopt by January 2023.

City of Saratoga Input on RHNA

The City Council filed an appeal of its RHNA allocation, arguing that the allocation failed to account for the lack of land suitable for urban development due to wildfire risks, incorrectly identified Saratoga as Transit-Rich Area, and lack of available water for more than 1,700 new homes. ABAG received 28 appeals from Bay Area jurisdictions, which included 6 appeals from Santa Clara County. These were submitted by Saratoga, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, and Unincorporated Santa Clara County. The City of Saratoga's appeal was denied.

Additional Resources

Allocation Methodology

Based on growth projections from the State Department of Finance, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), in partnership with a Council of Governments for each region, determines housing needs within each of the 18 regions in the State. Each Council of Government for the different regions is then responsible for divvying up the housing needs among all the jurisdictions within that region. The Council of Government that represents the counties of Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Solano, and Sonoma is the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG).

In June 2020, HCD provided the housing needs allocation for the Bay Area for the 2023-2031 period. The total number of new housing units needed is 441,176. This compares to 187,990 for the prior planning period of 2015-2023 representing a 234% increase in future housing to be planned for in the Bay Area.

On January 12, 2022, HCD approved the ABAG Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) Plan. In March 2022, the Association of Bay Area Governments officially provided jurisdictions with their RHNA allocation.

The table below shows the RHNA allocation for the City of Saratoga.

Total	Very Low Income	Low Income	Moderate Income	Above Moderate
1,712	454	261	278	719

The Area Median Income is determined annually for each county by HCD. The 2022 AMI for Santa Clara County is $168,500 for a four-person household.

Very Low Income: Less than $84,250
Low Income: $84,251 to $131,750
Moderate Income: $131,751 to $202,200
Above Moderate Income: More than $202,200

The public can sign up for the ABAG RHNA mailing list to receive updates via email.

As background, the following table shows Saratoga’s RHNA allocation for 2015-2023 for each income category together with the number of building permits that the City has issued in each category as of December 31, 2019. The City has not denied any applications for new residential development in the planning period.

Income Category	Units Allocated	Permits Issued
Extremely Low & Very Low Income (0-50% Area Median Income)	147
Low Income (51-80% Area Median Income)	95	75 (ADUs)
Moderate Income (81-120% Area Median Income)	104	45 (ADUs)
Above Moderate Income (120%+ Area Median Income)	93	30 (new single-family homes)
Total	439	150

* ADU - Accessory Dwelling Units

* The number of permits shown above reflects building permits issued authorizing construction, not approval of planning applications.

State Housing Legislation

In recent years, the State has adopted a number of housing laws that shift more responsibility for development of affordable housing from the market to local jurisdictions and reduce local control over future residential development. The most significant in Saratoga area:

Senate Bill 35 (Weiner): requires cities and counties where housing production has not matched the Housing Element targets to use a streamlined, ministerial review process (e.g., not allowing environmental review or any discretionary findings such those used for design review and similar approvals in Saratoga) for qualifying multifamily residential projects.
SB 330 (Skinner): prohibits agencies from holding more than five hearings/public meetings concerning residential projects and prohibits adoption zoning or General Plan policies that lessen the intensity of housing.
Senate Bill 166 (Skinner): prohibits cities from requiring that sites identified in the Housing Element for affordable housing be developed as affordable housing and requires cities to identify new locations for affordable housing if the affordable housing sites are developed for another use or market-rate housing.