California is ramping up efforts to address its housing crisis by expanding its Excess Sites Programme, which facilitates the release of state-owned land for affordable housing development. Alongside this expansion, Governor Gavin Newsom’s office has launched a new web portal to streamline the bidding process for developers.

Expanding the Excess Sites Programme

“California is doing everything we can to give all Californians access to affordable housing as quickly as possible. Today we continue to advance our strategy of transforming underutilized state properties into thriving affordable living communities for Californians,” Governor Gavin Newsom stated.

The revamped Excess Sites Programme aims to accelerate leasing state land for housing development, ensuring that more sites become available to developers without unnecessary delays.

‍A Transparent Bidding Process

Under the new process, developers can review all available sites through the Excess Sites interactive map and submit proposals continuously. Once a suitable proposal is received, a final deadline for bids will be set, expediting the selection and leasing process.

The Department of General Services (DGS) and the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) are managing the programme, with the goal of making all viable state land available for affordable housing projects.

Scaling Up Housing Development

Governor Newsom has long emphasized the need for urgent action, calling California’s housing crisis a challenge "decades in the making.” In 2019, he issued an executive order to speed up the release of public land for housing, yet progress has been slow.

Since the executive order, the HCD and DGS have developed a pipeline of just 4,300 housing units across 32 sites—a figure that underscores the difficulty of scaling up housing construction.

However, the state estimates that new sites being released could accommodate at least 2,000 additional homes, marking a significant step forward in expanding affordable housing availability.

Future Prospects and Statewide Impact

The Newsom administration continues to seek innovative solutions to California’s housing shortage, working with developers and local communities to maximize the use of public land. By providing clearer processes and more accessible bidding platforms, officials hope to attract more developers and accelerate construction timelines.

With California’s housing crisis at a breaking point, the state is committed to ensuring that public land plays a key role in long-term housing solutions.

Originally reported by David Rogers in Global Construction Review.