Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA)

PLHA provides funding to local governments in California for housing-related projects and programs that assist in addressing the unmet housing needs of their local communities.

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Background

In 2017, Governor Brown signed a 15-bill housing package aimed at addressing the state’s housing shortage and high housing costs. Specifically, it included the Building Homes and Jobs Act (SB 2, 2017), which established a $75 recording fee on real estate documents to increase the supply of affordable homes in California.

Because the number of real estate transactions recorded in each county will vary from year to year, the revenues collected will fluctuate. The chart below shows how revenues will be allocated.

When PLHA — 70% of Funding Other State Administered Programs — 30% of Funding
2019 and Beyond Locally Administered Affordable Housing 15% mixed-income multifamily rental housing
5% production incentive program
10% farmworker housing

Funding will help cities and counties:

  • Increase the supply of housing for households at or below 60% of area median income
  • Increase assistance to affordable owner-occupied workforce housing
  • Assist persons experiencing or at risk of homelessness
  • Facilitate housing affordability, particularly for lower- and moderate-income households
  • Promote projects and programs to meet the local government’s unmet share of regional housing needs allocation
  • Ensure geographic equity in the distribution of the funds

Assistance Type

There are two types of assistance under PLHA:

  1. Formula grants to entitlement and non-entitlement jurisdictions based on the formula prescribed under federal law for the Community Development Block Grant.
  2. Competitive grants to non-entitlement jurisdictions. Funding amounts will vary based on annual revenues to the Building Homes and Jobs Trust Fund.

Assistance Terms

Applications for the formula allocation must be submitted within 48-months of the budget appropriation. If a local government does not submit a complete application within that time frame, the allocation will revert to the Housing Rehabilitation Loan Fund for the Multifamily Housing Program or for Department-administered technical assistance to local governments.

Eligible Activities

Eligible activities for the formula allocations are:

  1. The predevelopment, development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of multifamily, residential live-work, rental housing that is affordable to extremely low-, very low-, low-, or moderate-income households, including necessary operating subsidies.
  2. The predevelopment, development, acquisition, rehabilitation, and preservation of Affordable rental and ownership housing, including Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), that meets the needs of a growing workforce earning up to 120-percent of AMI, or 150-percent of AMI in high-cost areas. ADUs shall be available for occupancy for a term of no less than 30 days.
  3. Matching portions of funds placed into Local or Regional Housing Trust Funds.
  4. Matching portions of funds available through the Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Asset Fund pursuant to subdivision (d) of HSC Section 34176.
  5. Capitalized Reserves for Services connected to the preservation and creation of new permanent supportive housing.
  6. Assisting persons who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including, but not limited to, providing rapid rehousing, rental assistance, supportive/case management services that allow people to obtain and retain housing, operating and capital costs for navigation centers and emergency shelters, and the new construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of permanent and transitional housing.
    1. This activity may include subawards to administrative entities as defined in HSC Section 50490(a)(1-3) that were awarded CESH program or HEAP funds for rental assistance to continue assistance to these households.
    2. Applicants must provide rapid rehousing, rental assistance, navigation centers, emergency shelter, and transitional housing activities in a manner consistent with the Housing First practices described in 25 CCR, Section 8409, subdivision (b)(1)-(6) and in compliance with WIC Section 8225(b)(8). An applicant allocated funds for the new construction, rehabilitation, and preservation of permanent supportive housing shall incorporate the core components of Housing First, as provided in WIC Section 8255, subdivision (b).
  7. Accessibility modifications in lower-income owner-occupied housing.
  8. Efforts to acquire and rehabilitate foreclosed or vacant homes and apartments.
  9. Homeownership opportunities, including, but not limited to, down payment assistance.
  10. Fiscal incentives made by a county to a city within the county to incentivize approval of one or more affordable housing projects, or matching funds invested by a county in an affordable housing development project in a city within the county, provided that the city has made an equal or greater investment in the project. The county fiscal incentives shall be in the form of a grant or low-interest loan to an affordable housing project. Matching funds investments by both the county and the city also shall be a grant or low-interest deferred loan to the affordable housing project.

Eligible activities for the competitive allocation are:

  1. Development of new multifamily rental housing that is affordable to households at or below 60-percent of AMI or substantial rehabilitation of multifamily rental housing that will be affordable to households at or below 60-percent of AMI, but which is not currently restricted as affordable housing; or
  2. Assistance to persons who are experiencing or at risk of homelessness, including, but not limited to, through rapid rehousing, or rental assistance, supportive services and case management services that allow people to obtain and retain housing, operating and capital costs for navigation centers, or new construction, rehabilitation, or preservation of permanent or transitional rental housing.

Eligible Applicants

Eligible Applicants for the entitlement formula component are limited to the metropolitan cities and urban counties allocated a grant for the federal fiscal year 2017 pursuant to the federal CDBG formula specified in 42 USC, Section 5306. Eligible Applicants for the non-entitlement formula component and the competitive grant program component are limited to the non-entitlement jurisdictions.

Forms

Non-Entitlement Competitive NOFA

Guidelines and Regulations

2021-2022 NOFA

Non-Entitlement Competitive

Entitlement and Non-Entitlement Formula Component NOFA

2020-2021 NOFA

Non-Entitlement Competitive

Entitlement and Non-Entitlement Formula Component NOFA

New Applicants:

Returning Applicants:

2019-2020 NOFA

Non-Entitlement Competitive

Entitlement and Non-Entitlement Formula Component

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