PROHOUSING DESIGNATION
PROGRAM

On August 20, 2024, the City Council adopted Resolution SC 24-60, authorizing the City to apply for, and participate in, the State of California Housing and Community Development (HCD) Prohousing Designation Program. The Prohousing Designation Program provides incentives for jurisdictions that are compliant with State Housing Element requirements and have adopted local Prohousing policies. Jurisdictions that receive Prohousing Designation are eligible to apply for the Prohousing Incentive Program, which offers additional grant funding opportunities to help accelerate affordable housing production and preservation.

The City prepared and submitted its initial application on August 21, 2024, and received preliminary feedback from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) in October 2024. Since that time, City staff and the City’s housing consultant have diligently worked with HCD to revise the application to meet program requirements, with the goal of achieving at least 30 points under the Prohousing Designation Program Scoring Criteria, which is required to receive Prohousing Designation. Program scoring criteria is included in the application linked below.

The City most recently submitted a revised application to HCD on January 7, 2026, for review. In accordance with program requirements, a draft of the Revised Prohousing Designation Application was made available for public review and comment for a 30-day period beginning January 23, 2026, revised on January 30, and open through March 1, 2026.

The City Council is set to receive an update on the draft application on March 3, 2026, and give staff the authorization to apply for and receive Prohousing Incentive Program (PIP) funds in the event that the Prohousing application is certified by HCD prior to the March 31, 2026 deadline.

For questions about the program, please contact Nick McIlroy, AICP, Planning Manager, via email at nmcilroy@sandcityca.org.