Homeowners in California will be able to build two detached backyard units on a single-family lot, and cities will have to tell builders up front what sidewalks and sewers they must pay for, under a package of housing bills Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed.

The six bills were sponsored by California YIMBY, a pro-housing advocacy group, which said this week that the governor signed every bill it backed that cleared the Legislature this session.

What the bills do

  • AB 956 (Quirk-Silva) lets owners add up to two detached accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, on qualifying single-family lots. The governor's office lists it among housing bills signed Sept. 29, and the bill text says cities must approve qualifying units without discretionary review and limits what homeowners' associations can do to block legal ADUs.
  • SB 1117 (Cervantes) changes the impact fees local governments can charge on ADUs larger than 750 square feet.
  • SB 1116 (Caballero) revises state housing law to make smaller, lower-cost homes such as townhomes and condos easier and cheaper to build.
  • SB 1014 (Grayson) requires cities to disclose required sidewalk, sewer and other public improvements soon after a housing application comes in, and blocks them from adding new requirements after a permit application is filed, with limited exceptions.
  • AB 2074 (Haney) streamlines high-rise housing and mixed-use projects near major transit hubs in the state's largest downtowns and calls for studying state-backed financing to make them pencil out.
  • SB 677 (Wiener) shields already-approved housing projects from further delays tied to subdivision steps and federal financing approvals.

Why it matters here

Two of the authors represent San Francisco: Sen. Scott Wiener and Assemblymember Matt Haney, whose high-rise bill targets the kind of downtown recovery the city has been chasing since the pandemic. Backyard units have become one of the most common ways Bay Area homeowners add housing, and California YIMBY CEO Brian Hanlon argued in the group's statements that many cities still charge excessive fees and that homeowners' associations keep throwing up roadblocks.

Most new state laws take effect Jan. 1, 2027, unless a bill says otherwise.