Start with the property’s jurisdiction and permit record
San Diego County’s inclusionary housing program takes effect October 22, 2026. It applies to qualifying new housing projects with at least 10 homes in the County’s unincorporated areas. For someone buying a home or evaluating land, the first question is whether the property and project fall within that rule.
An incorporated city and an unincorporated community can share a mailing address or familiar area name. Confirm which government handles the property’s land-use approvals. Then ask for the project’s permit application, submission date and current approval status.
The adopted ordinance exempts specified residential permit submissions made no later than October 22, 2026. That includes the date itself. The type of application matters: the text identifies a ministerial-permit application or a discretionary-permit submission. A preliminary conversation about a project is not the submission the ordinance describes.
The adopted applicability and exemption provisions also address expired discretionary permits that cannot be renewed. A seller’s statement that a project was “approved years ago” needs to be checked against the actual permit record.
The project threshold is 10 homes
The ordinance covers new residential and mixed-use developments for rent or sale that meet its 10-home threshold. Additional density-bonus homes and accessory dwelling units within a new development do not count toward that minimum. ADUs added as accessories to existing residential structures have their own exemption.
For example, suppose an owner is considering a hypothetical 12-home development in an unincorporated area. The useful next step is to establish how the County counts the proposed base homes and when the qualifying permit submission occurred. The owner should not assume that adding bonus homes changes the threshold calculation or that the asking price for the land proves what can be built.
A separate exemption covers developments providing all homes, including density-bonus homes but excluding a manager’s home, as affordable housing for households at up to 80% of area median income. The applicant must also demonstrate the required regulatory agreement to the County’s satisfaction. The project records matter more than a general description such as “affordable” in a sales brochure.
What an affected project must provide
An affected project must satisfy the affordable-housing requirement and submit an affordable housing plan with its first approval application. The required share is calculated from the project’s base homes and depends on whether the homes will be sold or rented and whether the project needs a General Plan amendment.
- For-sale projects consistent with the General Plan: 5% very-low-income homes, 10% low-income homes or 15% moderate-income homes.
- Rental projects consistent with the General Plan: 5% extremely-low-income homes, 5% very-low-income homes or 10% low-income homes.
- Projects requiring a General Plan amendment: 20% low-income homes.
Those categories use specified shares of area median income, adjusted for household size. A lower advertised price alone does not establish which category a home belongs to or whether a particular household qualifies. Ask for the approved affordability terms and the documents governing the home.
The set-aside provisions in the signed ordinance identify the income levels and project categories. Its ownership-home pricing definition includes housing costs such as property taxes, insurance and homeowners’ association dues. When comparing a purchase, consider the full monthly cost alongside the price.
Why a project may pay a fee instead
The final ordinance provides separate alternatives allowing fees to replace up to half, or up to all, of the affordable-housing requirement. Both appear in the adopted text. The full-fee alternative comes with an approval framework.
First, the applicant must demonstrate that providing the required affordable homes onsite is impractical. The County then considers alternatives in a stated order: land donation, qualifying for-sale ADUs, fees for up to half of the requirement, fees for up to all of it, and offsite construction. Before a lower-priority option is considered, the applicant must show why higher-priority alternatives are impractical.
That sequence matters when evaluating a project’s cost or the homes it will deliver. A plan to pay a fee should be supported by the approved affordable housing plan and compliance method. It should not rest on an assumption that every applicant can simply choose to pay for the entire requirement.
The two fee alternatives use rates tied to project type and market-rate floor area. The actual calculation should follow the approved project’s unit mix and applicable method.
There are also two different ordinance dates. The housing-program ordinance, No. 11009, takes effect October 22. The companion fee-fund ordinance, No. 11010, took effect July 24, 2026, 30 days after adoption. That earlier fund date does not replace the housing program’s October start or its application exemptions.
Before buying an affordable ownership home
Ask for the affordable housing agreement and recorded restrictions early enough to understand them before making a purchase decision. The ordinance subjects affordable ownership homes to resale provisions, and its agreements bind future owners and successors.
I would want to understand the allowed purchase price, household qualification process, occupancy requirements and future resale conditions before comparing that home with another option. Obtain those answers from the actual agreement and the party administering the program. A price that fits today should be considered alongside the conditions that will apply when you own and eventually sell.
If the home is a condominium, the association’s finances, insurance and rules belong in the same purchase review. My San Diego condo and HOA due-diligence checklist explains those separate records. The project’s inclusionary-housing approval does not answer the HOA questions for an individual home.
For a landowner, connect the approved plan with the sale
Before using a proposed home count or fee allowance to support a land price, assemble the permit history, current approvals and affordable housing plan. Identify the base-home count, any exemption being relied on and the County-approved compliance method. If an approval has expired, establish what remains usable.
Those records help a buyer evaluate the work, timing and costs that remain. They also let a seller explain the property using a documented development path rather than a best-case assumption. In a sale, I would connect those unresolved questions with the offer’s investigation period and the conditions that must be satisfied before closing.
Questions buyers and owners ask
Does this housing rule apply inside every San Diego County city?
The County ordinance applies in unincorporated areas. A property inside an incorporated city is outside this ordinance’s geographic scope. Confirm the property’s jurisdiction before applying the County’s project requirements.
What if a permit application is submitted on October 22, 2026?
The enacted exemption covers residential developments with the specified ministerial-permit application or discretionary-permit submission made no later than the ordinance’s effective date, October 22, 2026. Ask the County to confirm the application type and recorded submission date. An expired discretionary permit that cannot be renewed may bring the project under the new requirements.
Can I later sell an affordable ownership home at any price?
Do not assume that. The ordinance places affordable ownership units under resale provisions in an affordable housing agreement, with recorded restrictions binding future owners. Read the agreement and resale conditions before deciding whether the home fits your purchase and future plans.