SBR-Authors Podcast: Finding True Happiness Through Acts of Kindness: A Conversation with Karen Olson
Creative Housing Solutions Pop Up Across Oregon
Affordable Housing on the Front Range: Inclusionary Housing Ordinances and the New Middle Income Housing Authority
Office-to-Apartment Conversions – A Good Idea, but Tricky to Pull Off (Audio)
Episode 15 | Hot! Hot! Hot! Don't get Burned by the Perils of Buying and Selling Residential Real Estate
California CRE to Expand in 2022
2025 saw a number of Growth Management Act (GMA) and housing related bills in Washington, which are particularly relevant as planning counties and cities are in the middle of preparing their comprehensive plan updates and as...more
We start our August Alert with some potentially very good news. The RENTAL Act, a bill to reform TOPA, passed its first vote by the DC Council on July 28, 2025. The RENTAL Act includes, among other things, a blanket exemption...more
As discussed in our earlier post, California's CEQA landscape has rapidly, and potentially seismically, evolved with the passage of AB 130 and SB 131. This post focuses on the immediate creation of a new statutory exemption,...more
Note: This is the second update in our series covering AB 130 and SB 131, two bills that work substantive changes to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and California housing law....more
When District of Columbia Council Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced the Rebalancing Expectations for Neighbors, Tenants and Landlords (RENTAL) Act, there were high hopes that much needed reform to the Tenant Opportunity to...more
On June 30, 2025, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed two budget trailer bills—AB 130 and SB 131—that together work major changes both to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and California housing law. Because these bills...more
Originally enacted in 1970, the objective of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) was to review projects to assess potential impacts on the environment, disclose those impacts to the public, and mitigate those...more
Single-family-only zoning has officially ended in the City of Seattle. On May 27, 2025, the Seattle City Council passed CB 120969 to comply with RCW 36.70A.635, which requires adoption of development regulations allowing for...more
On June 30, California Governor Gavin Newsom signed two budget bills that contained the most significant reforms to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) in decades, effective immediately. These changes create an...more
On June 30, 2025, Governor Newsom signed into law a sweeping set of housing and infrastructure reforms as part of the 2025–2026 State Budget, marking one of the most significant overhauls of the California Environmental...more
On June 16, 2025, the San Diego City Council voted 5-4 to cap the number of Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) that can be built on single-family lots. The decision reverses the City’s 2020 implementation of a program allowing...more
On 18 June 2025, the German Federal Cabinet adopted a draft law to accelerate residential construction and secure housing (Schneller bauen mit dem Wohnungsbau-Turbo | Bundesregierung) in order to implement the 100-day target...more
The UK faces a significant housing crisis due to an acute shortage of homes caused by high capital costs, increasing construction and development expenses, regulatory and political uncertainty, and persistent delays in the...more
This year, over fifty bills were introduced in the Legislature that directly addressed a CEQA issue. Many died in committee, or failed to make it out of their respective houses. The vast majority of those that advanced sought...more
As part of an ongoing effort to address the affordable housing shortage, the Connecticut General Assembly has passed Senate Bill No. 1444 which is designed to facilitate the conversion of certain buildings to residential use....more
On May 29, 2025, the Supreme Court held that the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) — which requires federal agencies to analyze the environmental impacts of projects that they carry out, fund, or approve — does not...more
Fannie Mae (1938) and Freddie Mac (1970) were created with the end goal of promoting homeownership across the United States. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, both government-sponsored entities (“GSEs”), are publicly traded and...more
As reported in our April 2025 Alert on March 3, 2025, DC Council Chairman Phil Mendelson introduced the Rebalancing Expectations for Neighbors, Tenants, and Landlords (RENTAL) Act (B26-0164), which includes proposed...more
BALTIMORE—City Seeks Return of Sports Betting Lawsuit to Local Court - The City of Baltimore is requesting that its consumer protection lawsuit against DraftKings and FanDuel be moved back to Baltimore City Circuit Court,...more
Wohnen, Bauen, Klima: Die Wohn- und Klimapolitik im Koalitionsvertrag 2025 - Mit dem Koalitionsvertrag 2025 hat sich die Bundesregierung ehrgeizige Ziele für den Wohnungsbau, das Mietrecht, die kommunale Wohnungspolitik und...more
California’s 2025 legislative cycle includes another ambitious package of housing bills as the state continues to look for ways to ease the housing crisis amidst continued political and economic uncertainty. Reforming the...more
As of 6 May 2025 Germany has a new government. After intensive coalition negotiations, CDU/CSU and SPD agreed on a joint housing policy in their coalition agreement, combining and developing elements of both manifestos under...more
Recently, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Mortgagee Letter 2025-13 to revise the exclusive listing period for certain parties in connection with HUD real estate owned (REO) properties, and...more
There is a proverb, “May you live in a time of change.” It appears that with the new administration not only are we living in a time of change, but also one of break-neck speed without precedent or predictability....more
On April 3, 2025, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced it will end the Veterans Affairs Servicing Purchase (VASP) program on May 1, 2025. This decision comes just shy of one year since the program’s...more