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California Plans To Build Millions Of New Homes To Ease Housing Crisis

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — So many Californians are dealing with skyrocketing housing costs, and on Wednesday, state officials unveiled ambitious new plans to build millions of new homes.

Right now, the average cost to purchase a home is more than $800,000.

Now, the State of California is setting new residential building requirements to help ease the housing crisis, but just how many new homes are needed?

"The state needs to add at least 2.5 million new homes and that's the bare minimum," one housing said.

That goal must be met by 2030 and at least one million of those must be for lower-income families.

One growing way communities are adding new housing is through building so-called "granny flats" or "tiny homes" on existing residential lots.

There has been a ten-fold increase in these types of new units, which are more affordable to build and often don't need special permits.

To help kick-start construction, the state plans on spending more than six billion dollars this year on housing development projects.

Cities and counties are required by law to approve a certain number of low-income housing units as part of their development plans, and those that do not meet the goals can now face legal consequences.

"The court can establish a fine of $10,000 per month or up to $100,000 a month for long periods of noncompliance," a housing advocate said.

Housing advocates say action needs to be taken immediately to help people struggling to find a place to live.

"We don't want to see people on the streets. We don't want to see the tent cities. We don't want to see this crisis that, it's just that, it's just gone far, far out of control," one advocate said.

The state has also created a new housing accountability unit to hold local governments accountable for their low-income housing obligations.

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