The Covenant Homeownership Program provides a zero-interest secondary loan to help cover down payments and closing costs, widely viewed as the first explicitly race-conscious housing finance program of its kind.
Campaigner Aysha Hawcutt stated that residents were 'not anti-homes', but believed the Adlington plan was 'the wrong proposal in the wrong place'. She expressed pride in the community's resilience against the development threats.
Good urbanism should transcend politics. Socialists and capitalists can walk the same neighborhood and agree it's a pleasant place to live. They can each appreciate the tree canopy, the corner café with people spilling onto the sidewalk, the mix of ages on bikes and on foot, the architectural details of older buildings, and so on.
Through Community Facilities Districts (CFD), Municipal Utility Districts (MUD), Public Improvement Districts (PID), Community Development Districts (CDD) and reimbursement districts (RD), builders can potentially shift infrastructure costs off their balance sheets and onto special districts that homebuyers ultimately absorb through property taxes without potentially adding debt to the builder's books.
House Bill 1001's final version broadens by-right approval for certain housing types and reduces some local zoning, design and fee authority. However, it permits communities to opt out of key provisions and introduces new rules for impact fees, residential tax-increment financing and state housing infrastructure financing.
We're also now getting to this point where, despite all of those changes, we're still the slowest city to build. We have to now take a stab at the harder problems, including Charter reform, to enable us to be able to make those changes.
On top of devastating losses and rebuilding and insurance claim headaches, survivors of the 2025 Los Angeles County firestorms have faced an increasingly existential threat to their communities: large investment firms buying up burned lots, which many worry will forever change the fabric of their treasured neighborhoods.
Understanding the difference in purpose Unlike private businesses, which exist to make a profit, public institutions are designed to create impact - especially social and economic outcomes that benefit everyone, not just paying customers. A public agency doesn't measure its success in revenue or margins, but in how much it improves lives, builds equity and maintains public trust. This doesn't mean budgets and spending don't matter - they absolutely do - but money is not the goal. It's the tool.
In most cases, lenders will not issue a traditional mortgage for land that does not already have a home or building on it. Mortgages are designed for developed properties because houses provide immediate collateral value and are generally easier to sell if a borrower defaults.
Concern and offense were aired Thursday by members of an oversight committee following an attempt earlier this week to jam amendments to LA's so-called mansion tax onto the June ballot. Thursday's vote by the Measure United to House L.A. Citizens Oversight Committee, the group established through the November 2022 ballot measure to monitor use of Measure ULA funds, could offer a look at the uphill battle proposed carveouts to the two-tier property tax could face in the coming months.
"While bringing a lawsuit is never my first choice, courts have consistently ruled that compliance with this law is mandatory, and the urgency of our housing shortage compels me to act to ensure that all MBTA Communities meet their legal responsibilities. My office remains ready to assist any town working to come into compliance with the law,"
In contrast to previous years, the Palo Alto City Council has set at least one very specific priority for 2026: find funding to acquire and renovate Cubberley Community Center. Cubberley was one of four priorities council approved for 2026 during its annual retreat at Mitchell Park Community Center on Saturday. The other three are: government efficiency; achieve near-term housing priority milestones; and enhance business vibrancy.
With just five months before landmark housing legislation takes effect throughout California, San Jose officials are racing to exempt broad swaths of the city from the law. Sen. Scott Wiener's Senate Bill 79, signed into law in October, aims to encourage denser housing construction around transit hubs. In San Jose, the law would cover 40,000 parcels of land, in many cases pushing up the maximum height and density limits for newly constructed residential buildings, according to city officials.
The legislation focuses on reducing regulatory and procedural barriers to housing development, aiming to accelerate the construction of both market-rate and affordable housing nationwide. The Housing for the 21st Century Act is the House counterpart to the ROAD to Housing Act. The bill seeks to accelerate housing development by encouraging zoning reforms, supporting accessory dwelling units and small multifamily projects, and lowering costs tied to permitting and design. It also includes grants for preapproved building plans intended to shorten approval timelines.
By focusing on what others aren't building, solidifying relationships on the ground, improving processes incrementally, and carving out a niche where they can stand apart from peers, private builders can achieve stronger margins, maintain brand value and grow sustainably despite the advantages held by large public competitors.
In denying Compass's motion, Judge Vargas appears to say that Compass did not adequately show that the policy has caused it irreparable harm. During the hearing, an expert witness for Compass testified that Zillow's policy harms competition because it suppresses competing platforms, which Compass claims Compass.com is. Other witnesses for Compass testified that Zillow's policy had resulted in a decline in both engagement and users on its platform,
There are around five million leasehold properties in England and Wales, of which 70% are flats. At the moment, the freeholder of a property generally owns the building and the land beneath it, outright and forever. Leaseholders effectively buy the right to live in the property for a fixed period of time. Leasehold flats are found in all sorts of properties - from converted Victorian houses to purpose built skyscrapers - and tend to be concentrated in big cities.
APOR is baked into not only Dodd-Frank as a safe harbor against litigation which many lenders want to comply with and use for their business and pricing and risk but also there are a litany of 40 other statutes that are tied to APOR as it's described in Dodd Frank, over 27 states. Lenders frequently move ahead of formal rulemaking, Dunn added. You don't have to wait for the regulation to comply either, she said.
Cedar Street just came out victorious in a multi-year saga with the city of La Canada Flintridge, winning the first successful builder's remedy case in California Superior Court for its 80-unit mixed-use project at 600 Foothill Boulevard and setting a path for other developers to build. But the fight may have left its scars, in time, stress and now soured relationships with some officials.