The City of recently unveiled a promising progress report detailing the significant impact of the Citywide Housing Incentive Program (CHIP) exactly one year after the measure was signed into effect.
The report highlights that nearly 30,000 new homes are currently moving forward across Los Angeles as a direct result of this initiative. As the largest local rezoning program in the country, CHIP was specifically designed to eliminate bureaucratic red tape and establish a faster, easier, and more cost-effective framework for building residential properties.
The program targets development near employment hubs, public transit stops, and established neighborhoods where Angelenos already live and work. Backed strongly by Mayor Bass, CHIP secured near-unanimous approval from the Los Angeles City Council last year.
Mayor Karen Bass emphasized that for decades, Los Angeles failed to construct sufficient housing, forcing working families to bear the burden of soaring rents and astronomical housing costs. She stated that her administration entered City Hall to disrupt that status quo, accelerate construction, and improve affordability across the city. Launching CHIP served as a major step in that mission, and with nearly 30,000 homes now advancing, she expressed a continuous commitment to expanding the housing supply so future generations can afford to remain in these communities.
Speaking from an active construction site for a CHIP-approved project, Mayor Bass was joined by Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, City Planning Director Vince Bertoni, and Steven Scheibe of Generation Real Estate Partners. Together, they explained that CHIP has unlocked the long-term capacity to build nearly half a million new homes across Los Angeles in the coming years.
The one-year progress report underscores tangible momentum toward that ultimate goal through several key metrics. First, the program is driving record production, with nearly 30,000 new homes moving forward, including a notable number of larger, multi-bedroom units. Second, the initiative is fostering deeper affordability, ensuring that nearly 40% of all proposed units will remain income-restricted for a period of 99 years. Third, it is creating enhanced access to opportunity, as more than half of the proposed units are located within higher-opportunity neighborhoods characterized by better schools, stronger employment outcomes, improved transit options, and cleaner air.
Finally, the program has drastically accelerated the development pipeline, with 90% of CHIP projects advancing through a streamlined approval process that minimizes delays and expedites construction.
Among these efforts, the Mayor signed an executive directive to accelerate 100% affordable housing, which has successfully put more than 42,000 units into the pipeline and placed over 6,000 units currently under construction.
This directive was officially codified into law last December. Additionally, the administration has expanded its focus beyond strictly affordable housing to actively support housing options for working families, middle-income Angelenos, and first-time homebuyers. The city has also expanded its Adaptive Reuse Ordinance citywide to facilitate the conversion of vacant office buildings and commercial spaces into residential units, a move that current estimates show could generate more than 43,000 new homes across Los Angeles.
Also, the administration has implemented a sweeping set of bureaucratic reforms to reduce delays, simplify the permitting process, and make it both faster and easier to build homes and open businesses.
Mayor Bass also signed into law the first comprehensive update to the Los Angeles Rent Stabilization Ordinance in 40 years, while simultaneously promoting innovative housing strategies through the LA4LA initiative and increasing development opportunities for affordable housing on City-owned land.
According to the Mayor’s office, these coordinated efforts to accelerate housing development have also played a critical role in mitigating homelessness throughout the region.
