Oregon's Housing Needs

Oregon has a substantial shortage of housing due to at least 50 years of restrictive zoning regulations and underbuilding diverse housing types. The Department of Land Conservation and Development (LCDC) has estimated that we need almost 500,000 new homes in the next 20 years, which entails a substantial increase in production rates across every town and city.

Of these half-million new, needed homes:

• 1 in 4 needs to be physically accessible for seniors and people with disabilities (6,700 new accessible homes are needed in Oregon every year).
• 2 in 3 need to be designed for smaller households (1 or 2-person households).
• 2 in 3 need to be for individuals making less than 120% AMI; of those, 1 in 3 needs public subsidy or deep affordability (below market rate).
• All new homes need to be planned with disaster and climate resilience in mind.
• Many homes need to be built in small and rural towns.

The state of Oregon has rightly placed strong emphasis on increasing housing production. But building more homes is only part of the solution. Housing policy must also account for the full context in which people live, move, and belong in their communities. High-quality land use planning integrates these factors into the comprehensive plan, to proactively allow for thoughtful and equitable housing for all.

Where?

Neighborhoods with higher levels of economic and racial segregation tend to have limited access to jobs, education, and services—reducing long-term economic mobility for residents.

Housing location impacts every aspect of a community’s social, economic, and environmental health. Examining a community’s geography can help us understand the ways in which good housing planning can promote long-term prosperity and wellbeing.

Public officials, advocates, and builders should ask themselves key questions like:

• How can we plan housing in locations that improve quality of life for the community and residents?
• Where are high-opportunity areas, and areas with well-developed public infrastructure, and how can more middle, affordable, and workforce housing be added in those areas?
• Where is already-existing affordable housing? What planning tools can we use to preserve it?
• Are accessible homes being built in locations that are near stores, schools, services, parks, and transportation?
• Are neighborhoods segregated by race and/or social class? What planning tools can we use to proactively facilitate social integration?
• Which areas are vulnerable to wildfire, flooding, sea level rise, or other disasters? Which areas expose residents to pollution or environmental toxins? What planning tools can we use to reduce vulnerability and exposure?

Housing location impacts affordability

Housing cost should be measured in terms of combined housing and transportation cost, which also includes the cost of transportation to and from work and services. Often, less expensive housing is located farther away from the places people work and access services, which increases the total cost of transportation for both individuals and taxpayers. When communities site needed homes closer to workplaces, stores, schools, services, and transit where it exists, it improves affordability for everyone.

Housing location impacts climate

When we locate needed homes closer to the places people work, shop, and play, people drive less and produce fewer pollutants. For this reason, land use planning that is focused on mixed-use, compact neighborhoods is one of the most effective ways to reduce a community’s carbon emissions.

Housing location impacts health

Good planning benefits the health of individuals and communities. This involves locating homes in places that ensure people have access to grocery stores, community spaces, and nature, and are able to get around using active and public transportation. Research shows that the ability to walk, bicycle, or roll to school is also very beneficial for children’s health. Conversely, poor planning can mean homes end up being located near highways and environmental pollutants; far from grocery stores, public transit, accessible community spaces, and nature; or in places that require a car to access daily needs—all of which have a detrimental effect on public health.

Housing location impacts opportunity and social integration

Cities can enact policies that reduce segregation by race and income by encouraging more diverse and affordable home options within high-opportunity neighborhoods. This gives more families access to schools and neighborhood amenities. At the same time, policymakers should provide development for systemically marginalized neighborhoods and schools while enacting anti-displacement strategies to ensure existing affordable housing is preserved. (See Oregon's Department of Land Conservation and Development’s, or DLCD's, anti-displacement and gentrification toolkit and the Fair Housing Council of Oregon’s Building Inclusive Communities: A Guide for Public Officials)

Housing location impacts disaster resilience

Homes that are in, or closer to, the wildland-urban interface (WUI) are more vulnerable to wildfire. Flood risk and other natural disasters are also shifting with the changing climate. Cities and counties must plan development using the best available disaster risk information, and prioritize building in safer places and with disaster-resilient materials and methods. See 1000 Friends’ resources, A New Vision for Wildfire Planning: A Report on Land Use and Wildfire and Wildfire Ready Oregon.

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How?

As of 2024, less than 1% of rental units in Oregon are truly accessible for people using mobility devices like wheelchairs, even though about 1 in 4 people has a disability and 1 in 8 people has difficulty walking.

How homes are built has a huge impact on the experience of people living in them. When people’s homes are safe and physically accessible, it improves wellbeing and saves money for taxpayers, residents, and the healthcare system. When homes are energy-efficient, people save money on their energy bills and pollution (including carbon emissions) is reduced at the same time. When homes are weatherized and disaster-resilient, lives are saved during extreme heat, extreme cold, and other natural disasters.

The issue of “how?” includes key questions such as:

• Is the home accessible for people with disabilities?
• Is the home energy-efficient and weatherized for temperature extremes?
• Is the home safely constructed? Does it expose residents to toxins such as lead, asbestos, air pollutants, or mold?
• If the home is in an area vulnerable to wildfire, is it built with fire-resistant materials and defensible space practices?

Take a look at our resilience resources for information on home weatherization, energy efficiency, accessibility resources, and more.

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For whom?

As of 2024, homeownership rates for people of color in Oregon remain significantly lower than that of white households (49% vs. 66%). This is due in part to a long history—and ongoing reality—of discriminatory housing practices.

To achieve the promise of land use planning Goal 10, we need to ensure that all people are actually welcome in every neighborhood, not just in rhetoric but in practice. This includes protecting legal rights and working towards more inclusive policies and protections.

The issue of “for whom?” includes critical questions, such as:

• Do tenants have enough protections to stay in their homes or neighborhoods without fear of unfair eviction or rent increases? Do they know their rights and have the ability to advocate for themselves?
• Do people who experience discrimination, including people of color, low-income people, people with disabilities, and people living in tribal communities have protections against discrimination? Are these protections being enforced?
• Do people experiencing homelessness have access to a spectrum of housing options, services, and supports that facilitate recovery?
• Do marginalized communities have access to affordable homeownership so that they can build intergenerational wealth and financial stability?

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OHNA requires cities with a population of over 10,000 to:

• Complete a Housing Capacity Analysis (HCA), which analyzes the community’s capacity to build needed housing based on current land availability, zoning regulations, and other factors. Cities are required to provide substantial opportunity for public participation, in order to better inform planning for the actual needs of the community.
• Develop a Contextualized Housing Need focused on that city, analyzing who needs what kind of housing and where. The CHN should take into account fair housing needs and opportunities, with particular focus on communities of color, low-income communities, people with disabilities, older persons, and tribal communities. Cities are also required to take into account the housing needs of homeless and unsheltered individuals.
• Within one year of creating the HCA, produce a Housing Production Strategy (HPS), which contains specific and meaningful plans, tools, actions, and policies to address housing needs identified in the HCA, along with a timeline for adopting and executing each strategy.

Each city must update their HCA and HPS every 6 years (for greater Portland Metro area cities) or 8 years (for cities located outside of the greater Portland Metro area). The deadlines for each city’s HCA and HPS are laid out in this schedule. During each update, cities are required to do significant public engagement. If you’re interested in contributing to your city’s HCA or HPS process, you should contact your local government to find out when and how they will be soliciting public comment.

How did OHNA come to be?

• 2019: The Oregon legislature created the pilot Regional Housing Needs Analysis (RHNA) (HB 2003).
• 2022: The legislature directed DLCD to make legislative recommendations on the implementation of RHNA, which later became OHNA.
• 2023: Pursuant to those recommendations, the legislature adopted legislation establishing the OHNA structure and objectives (HB 2001, HB 2889).
• 2025: The legislature adopted additional legislation building on OHNA (SB 1129). Then, LCDC adopted the OHNA rules, which specify the policies for cities to implement OHNA and tools and resources to help them to do so.
• 2026 and beyond: Full set of rules will be available to the public starting in January 2026. All cities with populations over 10,000 will conduct extensive community engagement to analyze housing needs and develop and implement a set of housing production strategies. Cities will regularly evaluate their housing supply, needs, and strategies, on either a 6-year cycle (Metro cities) or 8-year cycle (all other cities).

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