About

The Housing Readiness Report was developed by the San Francisco Foundation’s Partnership for the Bay’s Future in collaboration with housing justice advocates, policy experts, and regional partners. It was originally created to support greater transparency and public participation during the 6th Cycle Housing Element process across Bay Area jurisdictions.

Today, the tool continues to evolve—helping advocates, government staff, and funders monitor implementation, track equity-centered progress, and identify where more action is needed to meet local housing goals.

RHNA is a state-mandated process that determines how much housing—at all income levels—each region in California must plan for every eight years. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) sets overall housing goals for each region, and in the Bay Area, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) distributes those goals across cities and counties.

Each jurisdiction is then required to update its Housing Element to show how it will accommodate its share of the RHNA target. While RHNA doesn’t require cities to build homes directly, it holds them accountable for creating realistic, equitable plans—and jurisdictions that fall short can face penalties, including loss of eligibility for certain state grants and legal challenges under the Housing Accountability Act.

Housing Elements are local housing plans that every city and county in California must adopt to show how they will meet their RHNA goals. These plans identify where housing can be built, set policy priorities, and commit to specific programs to promote housing production, preservation, and tenant protections. They must also include strategies to affirmatively further fair housing and address historic patterns of exclusion.

While certification is required by the state, local implementation is key. The Housing Readiness Report helps track whether jurisdictions are following through—and supports advocates, officials, and community members in holding those plans accountable.

AFFH is a legal requirement under California and federal law that requires cities and counties to proactively address patterns of segregation and expand access to opportunity. In the Bay Area, this means that Housing Elements must go beyond planning for housing production—they must also include concrete strategies to undo historic racial and economic exclusion.

The Housing Readiness Report highlights whether jurisdictions have adopted AFFH programs and tracks their implementation. This transparency helps assess whether cities are taking meaningful steps to dismantle segregation, prevent displacement, and ensure that all communities—especially those historically excluded—have access to stable, affordable housing in neighborhoods rich with opportunity.

To learn more, read Public Advocates' Fair Housing and the Bay Area Housing Element Process

The Housing Readiness Report draws on data from the U.S. Census, California Department of Housing and Community Development, MTC/ABAG, Public Advocates and the Bay Area Equity Atlas to help users track how jurisdictions are meeting their housing goals. It combines demographic and housing conditions data with information on local housing policies, permitting progress, and fair housing strategies—making it easier to assess how jurisdictions are advancing equitable outcomes for their communities.

The Housing Readiness Report assesses whether Bay Area jurisdictions are following through on their state-mandated Housing Elements and advancing equitable housing outcomes. Each city or county is evaluated using the following data:

• Affordable Housing Permitting: We track how many new homes—especially very low- and low-income units—have been permitted compared to each jurisdiction’s RHNA targets for the 6th Cycle (2023–2031).
• Policy Commitments: We show the housing programs cities have adopted in their Housing Elements to preserve affordable housing, protect tenants, and prevent displacement—including programs identified as Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH).
• Implementation Progress: We highlight whether jurisdictions have submitted Annual Progress Reports (APRs) to the state and are reporting on their implementation efforts, as required by law.
• Community Conditions: We include contextual data — such as rent burden, gentrification risk, and neighborhood opportunity — to show how housing inequities vary across communities and why tailored policy responses are essential.

In the Bay Area, the housing crisis doesn’t affect everyone equally. Communities of color—especially Black, Latine, and Native American households—face the highest rates of housing insecurity and displacement. These inequities are rooted in decades of exclusionary policies like redlining, zoning restrictions, and disinvestment.

The Housing Readiness Report helps uncover where those inequities persist today by providing data on rent burden, gentrification risk, and access to opportunity. It also highlights whether local housing plans include the policies needed to protect vulnerable residents, prevent further harm, and build a more equitable future.

The Housing Readiness Report pulls data directly from trusted sources like HCD, ABAG/MTC, Public Advocates, and the Bay Area Equity Atlas. Because most of our datasets are connected to source platforms or public repositories, the information displayed on the site is updated in real time as those sources are updated.

Some datasets—such as Annual Progress Reports or housing policy data—are updated on a regular schedule (usually annually) based on state reporting timelines. We aim to refresh those datasets as soon as new information becomes available.