Housing Newsletter - September, 2026

Happy October! Here is your September 2026 housing newsletter. Please see below for major updates and news from this past month.

Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF):

• Santa Barbara City Council approves historic Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO)

• City of Lompoc begins to address housing impacts from anticipated Vandenberg SFB expansion

• Governor Newsom signs broad housing legislation package

Federal

• HUD and USDA Establish New Framework for Rural Housing: HUD and the U.S. Department of Agriculture signed a memorandum of understanding to coordinate environmental reviews, regulations, and physical inspections for housing programs, with the intent to reduce duplicative requirements and make rural housing ownership and development easier to navigate.1

• Bipartisan Legislation Reintroduced: U.S. Senators Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) and Todd Young (R-IN) reintroduced the Family Stability and Opportunity Vouchers Act, which proposes creating up to 250,000 new housing choice vouchers over five years paired with support services for low-income families with children under six who are facing homelessness, unstably housed, or living in high-poverty areas.2

State

• Governor Newsom Signs Broad Housing Legislation Package: Governor Gavin Newsom signed a broad housing legislation package on September 29 focused on housing construction authority, expanding affordable housing efforts, removing some regulatory and permitting barriers, addressing displacement, and strengthening homelessness and supportive-housing programs.3

• New Wildfire Housing Recovery Protections: Governor Newsom signed a four-bill wildfire recovery package on September 15 establishing standards for testing and remediating hazardous wildfire smoke contamination, and permanently extends mortgage-forbearance protections for disaster-affected homeowners.4

• California Expands Tribal Affordable Housing: The Department of Housing and Community Development highlighted new Tribal Homekey projects in September, including the opening or construction of housing projects serving Native American communities statewide.5

County

• Opening of Patterson Point Supportive Housing: The County Housing Authority hosted a ribbon-cutting for Patterson Point, a 23-unit supportive housing complex on Patterson Avenue in unincorporated Santa Barbara County designed to provide permanent homes for formerly homeless individuals.6

• Caird Housing Development Advances in Eastern Goleta Valley: A 1,198-unit Caird housing development on September 2nd, including 300 very-low- and low-income rental homes and approximately eight acres of public park space.7

• Youth Permanent Supportive Housing Funding Approved: Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors approved a $398,197 agreement with Channel Islands YMCA to provide housing and supportive services for young people experiencing housing instability.8

• County Conducts Annual Rental-Market Survey: The County and City of Santa Barbara Housing Authorities are conducting an annual countywide rental-market survey with UCSB Economics Department to document actual rents paid across Santa Barbara County to support requests to HUD for reevaluating Fair Market Rent levels.9

By City

Buellton

• Grace Period for Long-Term Motel Residency Ban: The city implemented a two-month grace period for long-term tenants at Avenue of Flags motels ahead of an impending ordinance deadline requiring properties to convert back to short-term visitor lodging.10

• New Learning Center at Buellton Garden Apartments: Non-profit developer People’s Self-Help Housing opened an educational Learning Center at the newly built Buellton Garden Apartments, providing free after-school academic support for resident children.11

Carpinteria

• Nothing Significant to Report: No major updates in the City of Carpinteria; continued environmental review for a 191-unit residential development on Carpinteria Bluffs and monitoring of the Salt Marsh housing project.12,13

Goleta

• Revised Below-Market Housing Allocation Rules: The Goleta City Council approved an updated local preference policy for below-market-rate (BMR) housing, adopting a proportional one-third distribution model across priority tiers (e.g., local workers and residents) to govern how affordable homes are allocated.14

Guadalupe

• Approval of Dunes Vista Affordable Apartments: The Guadalupe City Council unanimously approved plans and granted State Density Bonus incentives for the Dunes Vista Apartments County Housing Authority project, a three-story development with 7 total units, 6 of which are deed-restricted low-income.15

Lompoc

• General Plan Workshop on Housing & Growth: The City of Lompoc hosted a public workshop for its 2050 General Plan Update to evaluate proposed land-use scenarios, focusing on expanding local residential zoning capacity to accommodate an estimated 10,000 new jobs coming to nearby Vandenberg Space Force Base over the next decade.16

Santa Barbara

• Approval of Rent Stabilization Ordinance: Santa Barbara City Council voted 4-3 to approve strong tenant protections with a Rent Stabilization and Rental Registry Ordinance; cap annual rent increases at 60% of the Consumer Price Index or 3% (whichever is lower) for residential units built before 1995, create a rental registry, and establish a 7-member Rent Stabilization Board. Procedurally, the City Council will vote to adopt this RSO at the October 6th meeting.17

• Employee Housing Loan for School District: The City Council approved a $1 million loan to the Santa Barbara Unified School District using city housing funds to help finance workforce housing for school district employees at the former Parma School site.18

Santa Maria

• Tenant Rights & Housing Law Workshop: The City of Santa Maria partnered with the Legal Aid Foundation of Santa Barbara to educate local renters and landlords on tenant rights, eviction procedures, and state housing laws.19

Solvang

• Application Deadline for Alisal Glen Apartments: September 30 marked the city’s procedural deadline for a full development application of proposed 88-unit Alisal Glen Way Apartments (4 deed-restricted very low-income units), situated on rezoned land for high-density housing under Solvang’s Housing Element.20