On July 11, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the creation of a new, standalone cabinet-level agency dedicated to solving the housing and homelessness crisis. The California Housing and Homelessness Agency (CHHA) will oversee key departments, including the Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), the California Housing Finance Agency (CalHFA), and the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC). This sweeping reorganization of state government is part of the Governor’s broader strategy to improve efficiency, accelerate housing production, and reduce homelessness across the state.
The new agency will become effective on July 1, 2026, at which time the current Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency (BCSH) will be dissolved. This reorganization marks the first time in California’s history that the state will have a cabinet secretary solely focused on housing and homelessness.
Formation of the CHHA has been a long time coming. Under the current system, BSCH is responsible for a broad range of unrelated functions and siloed agencies, and developers often complained about duplicative state processes and monthlong delays when applying for state funding. The CHHA is tasked with simplifying the system, improving coordination across departments, and aligning resources to meet the state’s housing goals, including building 2.5 million new homes by 2030, with one million of these homes designated as affordable.
Governor Newsom emphasized the need for urgency and accountability, stating, “We are fundamentally restructuring the state’s approach to homelessness and housing – because what we’ve been doing hasn’t been good enough.”
The reorganization will also include the formation of a Housing Development and Finance Committee (HDFC) to align the efforts of the Governor’s office with the independently elected State Treasurer, who administers billions in housing bonds and tax credits. For housing advocates, the move is a welcome change, although many remain cautious, noting that success will depend on adequate staffing, funding, and follow-through. Despite this, the creation of a dedicated housing agency is viewed as a crucial step toward unraveling California’s notoriously complex and siloed housing bureaucracy.
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