FINAL REGIONAL HOUSING NEEDS
ALLOCATION (RHNA) PLAN:
San Francisco Bay Area, 2023-2031

Since 1969, the State of California has required each local government to plan for its share of the state’s housing needs for people of all income levels. Through the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process, every local jurisdiction is assigned a number of housing units representing its share of the state’s housing needs for an eight-year period. State Housing Element Law requires the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) to develop a methodology for distributing the Bay Area’s portion of the state housing needs to local governments within the nine-county region, including reporting on the RHNA methodology.

In consultation with Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), the California Department of Housing & Community Development (HCD) determined that the Bay Area must plan for 441,176 new housing units from 2023 to 2031.

ABAG then allocated 2946 units – including 1662 classified as affordable – to Menlo Park in December 2021. The table below shows the allocations to the 21 cities in San Mateo County.

Source: Association of Bay Area Governments

Resources

San Mateo County – February 2025 Formal Re-submittal of Amended Housing Element to HCD

San Mateo County’s updated draft Housing Element was submitted to the Department of Housing and Community Development on February 5, 2025, for review of compliance with State law. The submitted Housing Element is available for viewing.

Menlo Park Housing Element – Preferred Land Use Scenario (October 26, 2021)

An excellent document for understanding how the affordable housing sites were selected for the 2023-2031 Menlo Park Housing Element. Note that Downtown parking lots were a primary focus.