With the housing shortage creating challenges for communities across California to affordably house their residents, state elected officials grapple for solutions to mitigate the crisis. One strategy has been to ease certain building restrictions in order to add much-needed housing stock.
California Senate Bill 1395 took effect at the beginning of the year with the intention of streamlining approvals for temporary housing and ensuring their rapid deployment. One type of housing SB 1395 supports is tiny homes, prefab units of limited square footage—typically below 600 square feet—that can be purchased individually and delivered to
SB 1395, also known as the Interim Housing Act of 2024, was introduced by state Sen. Josh Becker (D-Menlo Park) and sponsored by San José Mayor Matt Mahan, with support from former San Francisco Mayor London Breed, as well as such regional public policy organizations as the Bay Area Council, the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association and DignityMoves, a nonprofit advocate for housing solutions…