The City of Irvine is required to adequately plan and meet the housing needs of everyone in the community by updating its Housing Element every eight years. In the update, the City must identify enough potentially developable land suitable for residential use to meet Irvine’s new Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation.

The Housing Element is Irvine’s “housing plan” and a required chapter in the General Plan. Irvine, along with all California cities and counties, is required to adequately plan and meet the housing needs of everyone in the community. The Housing Element must provide goals, objectives, policies, and implementation programs demonstrating how Irvine will meet its existing and future housing needs for all income levels. The Housing Element must also address recent housing legislation adopted in response to the state’s housing crisis.

All cities and counties are required to update their Housing Element every eight years for State certification. The City’s last Housing Element update, referred to as the Fifth Cycle Housing Element covers October 2013 to October 2021.

Although the City does not build the housing, the Housing Element does create a plan and regulatory framework, which provides opportunities for the private sector to do so, where market conditions determine when and where housing is built.

The Housing Element Update team will be holding virtual community workshops in spring 2021.The next meeting will be held:

Planning Commission Study Session
Date: Thursday, February 18, 2021
Time: 5:30 p.m.

For more information on the Housing Element Update, including an anticipated project timeline, please visit cityofirvine.org/housingelementupdate or email GPUpdate2035@cityofirvine.org.