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Newsom Announces Funding For Multifamily Rental Housing

Newsom Announces Funding For Multifamily Rental Housing

Six months after devastating wildfires swept through Los Angeles neighborhoods — including high-value areas like Pacific Palisades — fewer than 100 building permits have been issued for rebuilding single-family homes. At the same time, Governor Gavin Newsom has announced $101 million in funding, not for restoring what was lost, but for new multifamily rental housing.

The announcement came via the governor’s office this week, emphasizing a “critical need” to create affordable rental units following the January 2025 fires. According to the official release, the funds will support “affordable multifamily rental housing in the fire-devastated Los Angeles region,” with thousands of families still displaced and the housing market under pressure.


Yet for many residents, the response raises more questions than it answers. Homeowners in areas destroyed by the fires haven’t asked for apartment blocks or mixed-income units. They’ve asked for permits — to rebuild their homes. But those are barely trickling out. Meanwhile, the state has quickly mobilized over $100 million for high-density, multi-unit housing that many residents say was never requested.

The language used by state officials emphasizes long-term affordability goals, climate outcomes, and public-private collaboration. Tomiquia Moss, Secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency, called it an opportunity to “galvanize the collective response” to the fires. But for locals, this isn’t about vision statements or climate targets. It’s about being allowed to return to their neighborhoods — something that is not happening at pace.


The state’s “Multifamily Finance Super NOFA” — a consolidated funding program — will be used to fast-track shovel-ready affordable housing developments. Critics argue that this marks a pivot away from restoring single-family residential neighborhoods toward densifying them under the guise of recovery.

The optics are troubling. Luxury homes are lost to wildfires. Permits stall. And suddenly, multifamily units appear as the state-backed solution. Whether intentional or not, the result is a reshaping of these communities — not a restoration.


There has been no clear explanation for why single-family rebuild permits are so scarce. But with California’s regulatory and environmental red tape well-documented, the delays appear systemic. In contrast, funding for multifamily projects — often managed by politically connected nonprofits and developers — has moved swiftly.

Written by Mark Stevens - July 10, 2025