As a Berkeley student, you’ve likely witnessed or experienced California’s housing crisis yourself. Nearly a third of California’s renters pay more than 50 percent of their income towards housing. Only 18 percent of Californian households can afford to purchase a median-priced home. Over 100,000 residents sleep in their cars or outside each night. Behind this affordability crisis is a gaping housing shortage of nearly a million units.
To address the housing shortage, the California Legislature has enacted dozens of landmark housing statutes designed to override exclusionary local zoning, streamline permitting, and increase housing density near jobs and transit. But laws on paper don’t build homes. Cities across California routinely misinterpret or fail to implement these statutes, exacerbating our current housing affordability crisis.
The California Housing Initiative (CHI) partners with the California Housing Defense Fund, an impact litigation legal non-profit, to monitor and respond to cities’ implementation of California’s new state housing laws. This year, CHI is particularly focused on SB 79, the Transit-Oriented Communities Act, which requires high-density residential zoning near transit stops across California’s major metro areas.
For each enforcement initiative, students will research the relevant statutory text and interpret how the interconnected landscape of state housing law applies to a specific city’s general plan or zoning ordinance. Students will attend city planning commission and city council meetings (virtually) to understand how a city is approaching implementation, then draft enforcement letters or legal comment letters to be reviewed and submitted to the city by CalHDF. Students may also be asked to produce research memos on discrete legal questions that arise in the course of CalHDF’s statewide advocacy work.
Lawyering skills students will develop include:
- Statutory interpretation and close legal reading across a complex, cross-referential body of state law
- Legal research in an emerging, rapidly evolving area with limited case law
- Translating technical statutory language into accessible, actionable guidance
- Persuasive legal writing for local officials and municipal agencies
- Understanding land use and zoning law as a practice area
We welcome all law students who have a genuine interest or sense of urgency regarding housing affordability. Students should expect approximately two hours of commitment per week, including one weekly lunch meeting. Training sessions at the start of the academic year will cover core state housing laws, key planning concepts, and an introduction to statutory interpretation.
Join us in building a California where residents can afford to raise their families, pursue their ambitions, and put down roots in the communities they love.
You can read more about our organization here: https://www.law.berkeley.edu/article/new-student-groups-work-to-connect-affordable-housing-with-core-rights/
Supervision: Students will receive training and be supervised by attorneys at the California Housing Defense Fund.
Time Commitment: Roughly two hours per week
For more information, please contact the student leaders at calhousinginitiative@berkeley.edu