By Vanguard Staff
LOS ANGELES — On the eve of the anniversary of the 2025 Los Angeles fires, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced new investments in affordable housing across Los Angeles County aimed at helping survivors rebuild their lives and remain in their communities amid a tight rental market.
Less than a year after the fires displaced thousands of families, the Newsom administration has funded nearly 1,000 new affordable rental homes in Los Angeles County through state housing programs designed to reduce administrative barriers, accelerate construction timelines and lower costs. State officials said the funding is intended to stabilize housing for fire survivors and other residents without altering local zoning rules or neighborhood character.
“We are rebuilding stronger, fairer communities in Los Angeles without displacing the people who call these neighborhoods home,” Newsom said. “More affordable homes across the county means survivors can stay near their schools, jobs, and support systems, and all Angelenos are better able to afford housing in these vibrant communities.”
The state announced that $107.3 million from a Multifamily Finance Super NOFA (Notice of Funding Availability) focused on disaster-impacted areas will fund nine projects producing 673 new affordable rental homes. According to the administration, the projects do not change existing local planning, zoning or design standards, including rules governing height, setbacks, parking and wildfire safety.
State officials said none of the developments are located in burn scar areas or will replace homes destroyed by the fires. Instead, the projects are distributed across Los Angeles, Bellflower, Claremont, Covina, Santa Monica and Pasadena, a strategy the administration said is intended to relieve pressure on the county’s overall housing supply rather than concentrating development in fire-affected neighborhoods.
Under the program, new affordable units will be offered first to fire survivors and other eligible residents through occupancy preferences and priority policies tailored to those displaced by the 2025 fires. The governor has also issued and expanded executive actions prioritizing fire survivors on affordable housing waitlists and protecting them from losing shelter as temporary assistance and insurance payments expire.
The state said the projects announced will include 29 homes reserved for veterans. Those units are in addition to 87 veteran units funded through the third round of the Multifamily Finance Super NOFA and 454 veteran units announced earlier this year through the Department of Housing and Community Development’s Homekey+ program.
Nearly a year after the Palisades and Eaton fires devastated large parts of Los Angeles County, state officials said many displaced families continue to face rising rents and limited housing availability. The latest funding round is aimed at supporting long-term recovery by allowing families to remain close to work, school and support networks.
When HCD announced the funding opportunity in February 2025, the department said it would create a separate disaster-focused Multifamily Finance Super NOFA informed by consultations with fire-impacted communities and other stakeholders. The program allows developers to seek funding from multiple state housing sources through a single application, which the state said cuts red tape and speeds delivery.
Earlier statewide awards announced by HCD in September 2025 included nearly $56.9 million for four projects producing 301 affordable rental homes in Los Angeles County. With the latest awards, the state said a total of 974 new affordable homes are planned in the county through the third round of the program and the disaster-specific funding.
“Los Angeles residents faced a tight rental housing market even before these unprecedented wildfires forced thousands from their homes and compounded the problem,” said Tomiquia Moss, secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency. “This Administration has used every tool at its disposal to support Los Angeles jurisdictions as they navigate long-term recovery, and these new affordable homes will help nearly a thousand households obtain stable housing.”
Gustavo Velasquez, director of the Department of Housing and Community Development, said the department is prioritizing fire survivors throughout the region. “HCD continues to prioritize fire survivors at our properties throughout the Los Angeles region, and we look forward to seeing these additional homes brought to completion as soon as possible,” Velasquez said. “We are proud to support this Administration in its focused efforts to help residents find stability in the face of unimaginable tragedy.”
State officials framed the initiative as part of a broader countywide approach to addressing Los Angeles’ housing shortage, which existed before the fires and has worsened since. They said expanding affordable housing options across the county can reduce competition for scarce units and help workers, veterans and displaced families remain in the communities they serve.
The administration also pointed to its broader housing, homelessness and mental health initiatives, including recent voter-approved funding for behavioral health treatment settings and housing with services, changes to conservatorship laws, the creation of CARE courts and housing production reforms intended to accelerate construction statewide. State officials said these efforts are part of a long-term strategy to reverse decades of underinvestment in housing and supportive services.
According to the administration, unsheltered homelessness in California increased by about 37,000 people between 2014 and 2019, before Newsom took office. Since then, the state has slowed the growth of homelessness relative to national trends, with officials citing lower increases in 2024 compared with most other states, as well as reductions in veteran homelessness.
Follow the Vanguard on Social Media – X, Instagram and Facebook. Subscribe the Vanguard News letters. To make a tax-deductible donation, please visit davisvanguard.org/donate or give directly through ActBlue. Your support will ensure that the vital work of the Vanguard continues.
Seems these sentences contradict each other:
“….aimed at helping survivors rebuild their lives and remain in their communities…
State officials said none of the developments are located in burn scar areas or will replace homes destroyed by the fires. Instead, the projects are distributed across Los Angeles, Bellflower, Claremont, Covina, Santa Monica and Pasadena, a strategy the administration said is intended to relieve pressure on the county’s overall housing supply rather than concentrating development in fire-affected neighborhoods.”
So the state is actually funding lower-cost housing elsewhere in the LA basin for people displaced by the fires?
Maybe they can find where much of the $100 million FireAid money went that was supposed to be for the fire victims.
Meanwhile, Newsom (California) is apparently getting sued regarding the suspension of SB-9 in Pacific Palisades.
Please don’t put me in the position of agreeing with YIMBY Law, regarding the governor’s hypocrisy.
And truth be told, we NEED these wealthy people to get pissed-off at the state’s new laws, rather than having the governor let them off the hook. These people in particular are one of the primary groups who would have the resources and will to take on the state. (Which may ALSO be the reason that Newsom let them off the hook.)
If a particular zone is “too unsafe” for duplexes, it’s also “too unsafe” for single family housing (as we’ve already seen by DIRECT EVIDENCE).
Folks, everyone ends up paying for those who rebuild in high-risk zones. And in this case, it’s likely to be a subsidy (in more than one way) for those who are ALREADY wealthy. Do people not actually see that? Take a look at your taxes, insurance, and utility bills if you don’t believe it.