Skip to main content

Construction Defect Liability in California: How Reform Could Increase Affordable Homeownership Opportunities

Condominiums—homes for purchase in multifamily buildings—have long represented a major entry point for more affordable homeownership. However, condominium development has significantly lagged across California over the past several decades.

California’s construction defect liability laws are one of the key challenges impacting condominium development. These laws are intended as important consumer protections to protect home buyers from bearing the cost of fixing defects in newly built homes. However, the scope of these laws poses a disincentive for developers and contractors to build new condominiums.

Our new policy brief delves into the history and impact of construction defect liability laws in California.  The brief provides a comparative analysis of alternative approaches to construction defect liability in Canada and in states like Hawaii, New Jersey, and Utah. The findings highlight opportunities for reform and areas where further research is needed.

Read the full brief here.

Related Articles

San Francisco Chronicle Op-Ed: “Newsom just quietly floated an idea that could help fix California’s housing and fire recovery crises”

Managing Director Ben Metcalf writes in an Op-Ed for the San Francisco Chronicle that while considerable attention has been paid…

What We Can Expect on Housing Affordability from President Trump in 2025

Author: Ben Metcalf At President Trump’s election night speech, he highlighted the broadened electoral coalition that propelled him to victory,…

How much can new housing contribute to state climate action?

Author: Zack Subin Because solutions to the climate crisis are both urgent and unprecedented in scale, climate policy researchers routinely…

A Renter’s Tax Credit: Improving Affordability through the Tax Code

Author: Carolina Reid One of the first papers we published at the Terner Center, in November 2016, was an analysis…