CA Senate Passes Bill that Will Allow LA to Buy Fire Ravaged Lots to Build Low Income Housing originally appeared on L.A. Mag.
LA will be allowed to use property taxes to buy fire ravaged lots as a way to build multi-unit, low income housing Courtesy of Eli Young
California lawmakers are set to meet on Wednesday at the State House to discuss a new law moving through the legislature that will allow Los Angeles to buy lots leveled by deadly and devastating wildfires to build low-income housing.
Senate Bill 549 would allow property taxes to fund what lawmakers are calling “Resilient Rebuilding Authorities” that could buy ruined land and obtain loans to rebuild that will require at least 40% of their funding be earmarked for building multi-unit low-income housing on lots where single family homes once stood in Altadena, Pacific Palisades, Malibu and other devastated areas.
As part of the legislation, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that he has allocated $101 million in taxpayer funds to jumpstart the building of more low-income housing, as homeowners who lost everything have been slow to rebuild.
“Los Angeles has taken significant steps to rebuild after January’s fires, but the devastation is significant and there remains a long road ahead. Thousands of families – from Pacific Palisades to Altadena to Malibu – are still displaced and we owe it to them to help,” Newsom said adding that by funding the bill, the state can “accelerate the development of affordable multifamily rental housing so that those rebuilding their lives after this tragedy have access to a safe, affordable place to come home to.”
Tomiquia Moss, Secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, said the legislation will “accelerate household stability, climate, and health outcomes,” in the once vibrant neighborhoods where fire ripped through more than 5,000 homes in the Palisades, roughly 340 along the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, and more than 6,000 homes in Altadena. The state, Moss said, will continue to “galvanize the collective public-private response to the wildfires in Los Angeles County,” by “expediting and expanding opportunities to build affordable housing for low-income residents.”
This story was originally reported by L.A. Mag on Jul 16, 2025, where it first appeared.