SB 1227: Housing Our Students

Senator Nancy Skinner's Senate Bill 1227, known as Housing Our Students, modifies the State Density Bonus law, Government Code Sections 65915-65918, to make it easier for developers to build much needed student housing, including affordable housing, for college and university students at accredited schools. This law requires cities and counties to grant a 35 percent density bonus when an applicant for a student housing development of five or more units constructs a project that will contain at least 20 percent of the units for lower-income students.

Most colleges and universities in California do not have enough on-campus or near campus housing for all of the students that need it, and that students can afford. UCLA is currently constructing 5,400 beds, both on-campus and in the neighborhood, to meet the increasing demand for student housing. As stated in the bill's legislative history, it is estimated that 762,585 California college students experience housing insecurity or homelessness, including 693,000 (1-in-3) students in California's community college system; 57,000 (1-in-10) students in the California State University system, and 12,585 (1-in-20) students in the University of California system. It is most difficult for community college students, where one-third experiencing housing insecurity were both working and receiving financial aid. Due to California's high land and construction costs, it is very difficult for the private market to provide student housing units that are affordable to low or moderate-income households.

The existing state Density Bonus provisions allow an applicant to obtain up to a 35 percent density bonus over existing allowed density in the zone, and other incentives, for providing a certain number of affordable housing units. However, the density bonus provisions did not account for dorm style student housing, and made it difficult for students to comply with affordable housing qualifications.

The bill makes two key revisions to the Density Bonus law. First, developments with 100 percent student housing may apply the density bonus based on the number of bedrooms or beds instead of the number of housing units. It requires that all units in the student housing development will be used exclusively for undergraduate, graduate or professional students enrolled full time at an accredited institution of higher education. The revisions provide that the definition of a residential "unit" will also mean one rental bed and its pro rata share of associated common area facilities. This will apply whether there are rooms on a hallway, or individual rooms in larger units. It will also allow the affordable beds to be disbursed throughout a project, and not limited to rooms in the same larger unit.

Second, it permits students to submit financial aid documents as the documentation to qualify for affordable units. Unlike traditional affordable housing, identifying lower-income students eligible for student housing is difficult, because many students do not work full-time jobs and, on paper, they appear to be lower-income. The revisions provide that a student's eligibility to receive a Cal Grant shall be used to verify a student's eligibility for lower-income housing, which identifies income ceilings in statute based upon a student's household income, both for new and renewing participants. Priority will be given to lower income students experiencing homelessness.

The revisions also require that, prior to a certificate of occupancy, the developer must enter into an operating agreement or lease with one or more accredited colleges or universities, to ensure that 100 percent of the units are leased by students at qualifying schools. The implementation of the revisions to the Density Bonus law should significantly increase the amount of student housing, including affordable units, across the state.