Why do we have RHNA – Regional Housing Need Allocation?

California Housing Element law (Article 10.6 of the California Government Code) requires each jurisdiction to plan for housing for all income levels by ensuring that local zoning and planning support the production of a diverse range of new housing.  The RHNA is the state-mandated process to identify the share of the state’s housing need for which each jurisdiction must plan over an 8-year period. Jurisdictions are not responsible for building the housing: only for demonstrating in their local Housing Element that it could be built under current zoning. ABAG oversees the RHNA process in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.