Housing Element

2023-2031 Housing Element Update

The General Plan’s Housing Element is the City of San Bruno’s housing plan. The City, along with all California cities and counties, is required to adequately plan to meet the housing needs of everyone in the community and to update its plan every eight years. The foundation for the Housing Element is the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA), in which the State estimates each region’s housing needs for all income groups for the upcoming eight years. Each region then determines how much of the region's total housing needs to be produced for each city and county in the region. The City of San Bruno's portion of San Mateo County's RHNA target for the 2023-2031 Housing Element period is 3,165 homes. This goal is further broken down by income group.

The 2023-2031 Housing Element is the sixth update to the Housing Element and is also referred to as the 6th Cycle Housing Element. In the Housing Element, the City must identify enough potentially developable land zoned for residential use to meet the City’s new RHNA housing capacity/production target and must provide goals, objectives, policies, and programs to meet the housing needs of its citizens.

On August 27, 2024, San Bruno adopted an amended 2023-2031 Housing Element and on October 21, 2024, the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) found the element to be in substantial compliance with state law. 

  1. Housing Element Documents
  2. No Net Loss

Each jurisdiction must prepare an annual progress report (APR) on the jurisdiction’s status and progress in implementing its housing element using standardized forms adopted by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). (Government Code Section 65400.) Each jurisdiction’s APR must be submitted to HCD and the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research (OPR) by April 1 of each year, covering the previous calendar year. A key function of the APR is monitoring the city’s progress in implementing its housing programs and monitoring how the city is meeting its share of the RHNA. Progress towards RHNA is based on the number of building permits issued for new housing units in the jurisdiction.

Housing Production 2023-2025 (Building Permits Issued)
Income LevelRHNA Allocation (2023-2031)
Projection Period (7/2022 - 1/2023)
202320242025Total UnitsUnits Remaining
Very Low 704037131161643
Low4058116133494860
Moderate5731313131756517
Above Moderate1,48315515261,457
Total3,16522171443926292,538


Link to download APRs for the 6th Cycle