About HCD

By administering programs that provide grants and loans, HCD creates rental and homeownership opportunities for Californians, including veterans, seniors, young families, people with disabilities, farmworkers, tribes, and individuals and families who are experiencing homelessness.

Through asset management and compliance, HCD monitors affordable developments that use HCD funding to ensure they remain affordable for 35-55 years and compliant with program requirements. When they don’t, HCD intervenes, always with the goal of preserving affordable homes.

Similar to the way California’s DMV manages titling and registration for automobiles, HCD manages the titling and registration for mobilehomes. HCD also protects families and individuals who live in mobilehomes by inspecting mobilehome alterations and mobilehome parks to ensure they are properly maintained, and by enforcing regulations for those who build and sell manufactured homes.

HCD implements standards for housing construction and maintenance and trains local government inspectors who inspect for health and safety code violations. HCD creates specialized standards for CALGreen (the nation’s first mandated green-building code) and universal design, which ensures housing is accessible to all, including seniors and people with disabilities).

Housing is one of the most-important parts of any community and the way we plan for housing has wide-reaching impacts on the environment, education, health, and the economy. HCD plays a critical role in the housing-planning process, which was designed to ensure that communities plan for housing that meets the needs of everyone in California’s communities. HCD works with each of California’s regions to determine their housing needs and reviews each city or county’s housing plan (also known as the “housing element” — part of each city or county’s “general plan”) to determine whether or not their housing plan complies with state law.

HCD develops policies that support housing and community development and conducts research and analysis of California’s housing markets and needs. HCD produces California’s Statewide Housing Plan (required by state law), California’s consolidated plan (required for California to receive millions of federal dollars for housing and community development), and other special reports.