California’s housing shortage has produced a string of state laws designed to force local governments to approve more housing, and the most powerful of them is the Builder’s Remedy. For a church sitting on developable land, this matters more than most congregations realize: the same laws that pressure cities to say yes to housing can also change what a church is able to do, or sell, with its own property. Below is a plain-language walk through the laws that fit together here, and where the Builder’s Remedy comes in.
The Housing Accountability Act (HAA)
The foundation is the California Housing Accountability Act, often called the “anti-NIMBY law,” enacted in 1982 to promote new housing and push back against local resistance. The HAA requires cities and counties to approve housing developments that meet objective zoning and planning standards unless there is substantial evidence the project would have a specific, adverse impact on public health or safety. In other words, a city generally cannot block conforming housing just because of local opposition. The HAA also lets developers sue non-compliant cities and recover attorney’s fees, court costs, and damages.
What the Builder’s Remedy Actually Is
The Builder’s Remedy is a specific and powerful provision buried inside the HAA at Government Code section 65589.5(d)(5). Every California city and county must adopt a state-approved Housing Element, a plan showing how it will meet its share of regional housing need. When a jurisdiction fails to adopt a substantially compliant Housing Element, it loses the ability to use its own zoning ordinance and general plan to reject qualifying housing projects.
Put simply: if a city’s housing plan has lapsed, a developer can propose a qualifying affordable housing project that does not conform to local zoning at all, and the city generally cannot deny it on zoning grounds. To qualify, the project must include either 20 percent of its units affordable to lower-income households or 100 percent of its units affordable to moderate-income households. This little-known provision sat mostly unused for decades, but as major cities missed their recent Housing Element deadlines, developers began using it to move projects that would have been non-starters a year earlier.
The Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (SB 330)
Senate Bill 330 strengthened the HAA to speed things up further. It bars local governments from imposing certain development moratoria or interim zoning ordinances that would delay or stop new housing, requires faster processing of housing applications, and locks in the development standards in place when an application is deemed complete, so a city cannot change the rules mid-project. SB 330 also extended HAA protections to more types of housing. Together, the HAA and SB 330 significantly narrow a city’s ability to slow-walk or block housing.
Where CEQA Still Fits
The California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA, requires state and local agencies to identify and mitigate the environmental impacts of development, and for larger projects to prepare an Environmental Impact Report. CEQA and the HAA serve different purposes, and a housing project can be subject to both. Importantly, the Builder’s Remedy does not exempt a project from CEQA on its own; a Builder’s Remedy project that requires discretionary approval still goes through environmental review. CEQA compliance can add time and cost, which is one reason developers watch closely for other laws that provide CEQA exemptions.
Why This Matters for Churches — and a Faster Path
For a church, the practical significance is twofold. First, if your property sits in a city that has fallen out of Housing Element compliance, the land may be far more developable than its current zoning suggests, which affects both what you could build and what a developer might pay for it. Second, and often more directly useful, California created a dedicated path for faith-owned land.
Under SB 4, the Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act, a church can build 100 percent affordable housing on land it owns as a “use by right,” bypassing local zoning and CEQA without needing the city to be out of compliance at all. For most churches exploring housing, that faith-lands path is the more reliable tool, and we cover it in detail in a separate article.
The takeaway is that a church’s land is often worth more, and more buildable, than its zoning label implies. Whether the right vehicle is the Builder’s Remedy, SB 4, or a straight sale to a developer depends entirely on the property, its location, and the city’s compliance status, which is exactly the kind of thing worth checking before making any decision.
Related Articles
Affordable Housing on Faith and Higher Education Lands Act (SB 4)
How Zoning Code Affects Church Property Use
Conditional Use Permits
Disclaimer: Every situation is different and particular facts may vary thereby changing or altering a possible course of action or conclusion. The information contained herein is intended to be general in nature as laws vary between federal, state, counties, and municipalities and therefore may not apply to any given matter. This information is not intended to be legal advice or relied upon as a legal opinion, course of action, accounting, tax or other professional service. You should consult the proper legal or professional advisor knowledgeable in the area that pertains to your particular situation.
