DLCD to Establish Housing Accountability and Production Office
Governor Kotek signs Emergency Housing Stabilization and Production Package, directing state coordination and investment on housing production
SALEM – In a ceremonial event today, Governor Tina Kotek signed bipartisan legislation that will address the state’s housing and homelessness crisis, including a $376 million state investment to boost housing production throughout the state, including the development of the Housing Accountability and Production Office.
The Emergency Housing Stabilization and Production Package (Senate Bills 1537 and 1530 and House Bill 4134) offer a menu of tools that will provide the support needed to ease our housing crisis and help Oregon communities thrive. This package will make meaningful progress in addressing the current housing shortage while preserving Oregon’s land use system and ensuring strong environmental protections. Collectively, these bills will have outcomes that move Oregon ahead in solving our housing and homelessness crises.
The package establishes the Housing Accountability and Production Office (HAPO), which will be run by the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) and Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS). The office is intended to facilitate and support housing production by assisting local governments and housing developers in understanding and applying state housing laws related to land use and permitting. Additionally, the office will coordinate state agencies involved in housing development to overcome housing production barriers. This office must be operational by July 1, 2025.
In addition to the HAPO, the bill includes a policies and investments to boost production statewide, including:
- Reducing regulatory and procedural barriers to housing production through a mix of limited duration and permanent measures;
- Providing qualifying local governments a one-time option to add or exchange land to an Urban Growth Boundary through an expedited process to build affordable and market-rate housing; and
- Allocating funding and loans to support housing focused infrastructure development, land acquisition for housing development, and low- and moderate-income housing development.
“DLCD is honored to play a part in making a tangible difference in Oregon communities,” said DLCD Director, Dr. Brenda Ortigoza Bateman, “We’re recruiting the team and setting up the systems right now to partner with cities, counties, and other state agencies in the advancement of housing production.”
To learn more about the Housing Accountability and Production Office, visit the DLCD website at oregon.gov/lcd/Housing/Pages/Housing-Accountability-and-Production-Office.aspx
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