What a California density bonus changes in the drawing set
The State Density Bonus Law from the drawing side: the bonus chart, the incentives and waivers, the parking ratios, and the tables and diagrams a bonus project puts on its sheets.
The law behind the bonus
California's State Density Bonus Law, Government Code section 65915, lets a housing project that sets aside a share of its units as affordable build more units than the zoning allows, and ask for incentives and waivers on the development standards that would otherwise stop it. Every city and county in the state must grant it, and the grant itself does not require a general plan amendment, a zone change or another discretionary approval (subdivision (j)(1)).
The section has been amended almost every year. The version in force for applications filed in 2026 was last amended by AB 87 (Stats. 2025, ch. 486), effective January 1, 2026. Owners and counsel read the section for eligibility. A practice reads it for something else: a density bonus project has more tables, more diagrams and more cross-references than the same building under base zoning, and every one of them is checked at plan review.
This guide covers what the bonus puts on the sheets.
The density bonus chart
The bonus is a percentage of the base density, and the percentage rises with the share of affordable units and how deep the affordability goes. The endpoints of the chart in subdivision (f):
| Affordable units in the project | Starting bonus | Maximum bonus |
|---|---|---|
| Very low income, 5% to 15% of units | 20% at 5% | 50% at 15% |
| Low income, 10% to 24% of units | 20% at 10% | 50% at 24% |
| Moderate income, for-sale, 10% to 44% of units | 5% at 10% | 50% at 44% |
| 100% lower income (up to 20% may be moderate income) | 80% | No density limit within one-half mile of a major transit stop or in a very low vehicle travel area |
Between the endpoints the statute sets a step for each percentage point, and the full table is in subdivision (f). A project that already reaches the 50 percent maximum can add a second bonus under subdivision (v): 5 to 10 percent more very low income units add 20 to 38.75 percent, or 5 to 15 percent more moderate income units add 20 to 50 percent, on top of the first.
Two rules shape the arithmetic on the sheet:
- The base. The bonus is calculated on the maximum allowable gross residential density as of the date of application (subdivision (f)).
- Rounding. Each component of the calculation, including the base density and the bonus density, is rounded up separately when it produces a fraction of a unit (subdivision (q)).
Incentives, concessions and waivers
The bonus in units comes with incentives or concessions, each of which modifies a development standard, and the count rises with affordability (subdivision (d)(2)):
| Affordable units | Incentives or concessions |
|---|---|
| 10% low income, 5% very low income or 10% moderate income (for-sale) | 1 |
| 17% low income, 10% very low income or 20% moderate income (for-sale) | 2 |
| 24% low income, 15% very low income or 30% moderate income (for-sale) | 3 |
| 100% lower income | 5, plus up to three additional stories or 33 feet within one-half mile of a major transit stop or in a very low vehicle travel area |
Waivers are a separate tool. Under subdivision (e), an applicant may ask the city to waive or reduce any development standard that would physically preclude building the project at the density the bonus allows, and a waiver neither reduces nor increases the number of incentives. The statute defines a development standard broadly, in subdivision (o)(2): a height limit, a setback, a floor area ratio, an onsite open-space requirement, a minimum lot area per unit or a parking ratio, among others.
For the drawings, the distinction matters because each incentive and each waiver becomes a line on the sheets, with the standard it modifies and the figure it changes.
Parking ratios
Subdivision (p) caps the parking a city may require of a density bonus project, inclusive of parking for persons with a disability and guests:
| Unit type | Maximum onsite parking |
|---|---|
| Studio or one bedroom | 1 space per unit |
| Two or three bedrooms | 1.5 spaces per unit |
| Four or more bedrooms | 2.5 spaces per unit |
| Qualifying project within one-half mile of a major transit stop, with at least 11% very low income or 20% low income units | 0.5 spaces per unit |
| 100% lower income project under subdivision (b)(1)(G) within one-half mile of a major transit stop, or one that is senior housing for residents 55 and over, special needs housing or supportive housing with paratransit or a frequent bus route within one-half mile | No parking requirement |
A project may provide more parking than the cap. What changes on the sheets is the tabulation: the parking count is shown for each unit type, with the subdivision that sets the ratio, and the accessible and guest spaces counted inside the total.
What the bonus puts on the sheets
The sheets of a density bonus project answer the same questions the application does, and plan review checks that the two agree. Five items do most of the work.
The density calculation table
Usually on the cover or the zoning sheet: lot area, the base density and the code section it comes from, the base unit count after rounding, the bonus percentage, the bonus units after rounding, and the total. Next to it, the affordable units by income level and the share that earns the bonus. Every figure in this table appears again somewhere else in the set, and the numbers must match everywhere.
The unit matrix
A table of every unit by type, floor, bedroom count and area, with the restricted units identified by income level. The unit matrix is the source for the parking count and for the affordable unit count, so it is the first table to update when the plan changes.
The incentives and waivers table
Each incentive and each waiver listed on its own line: the development standard, the base requirement with its code section, the proposed figure, and whether the request is an incentive or a waiver. On a project with several requests, this table is how a plan checker finds the reason a setback or a height on the elevations differs from the zoning.
Envelope diagrams
Where an incentive or a waiver changes the building's shape, the drawings show it: sections and elevations with the base height limit and the proposed height dimensioned, site plans with the base setbacks and the reduced setbacks drawn side by side, and floor area diagrams where the floor area ratio moves. These diagrams make the request legible to the planner and to the plan checker who comes after.
Parking and open space tabulations
The parking count by unit type with the ratio from subdivision (p), and the open space calculation if an incentive or a waiver reduces it. On podium buildings, the parking tabulation drives the garage layout, so a change in unit mix upstairs moves stalls downstairs.
Replacement units
A project on a site that holds, or recently held, affordable or occupied units must replace them to qualify for the bonus (subdivision (c)(3)). The statute defines the replacement units as being of equivalent size, meaning they contain at least the same total number of bedrooms as the units they replace. On the sheets, the replacement units are identified in the unit matrix alongside the bonus units, and the bedroom count is tabulated so the equivalence is visible.
In the City of Los Angeles
The City implements the state law through its Citywide Housing Incentive Program ordinance. City Planning describes the State Density Bonus Program as the City's primary mechanism for implementing Government Code section 65915, alongside two local programs, the Affordable Housing Incentive Program and the Mixed Income Incentive Program. Each program has its own menu of incentives, and a request for a standard off the menu follows a different path from one on it.
Two City steps shape the drawing schedule:
- The referral form. A density bonus project starts with City Planning's Affordable Housing Referral Form, reviewed by the Housing Services Unit at the Development Services Center. The form states the unit count, the affordable units and the incentives requested, so the density calculation and the incentives table on the sheets should be drawn from the same figures.
- The Housing Department. The Los Angeles Housing Department issues the replacement unit determination under the Housing Crisis Act for sites with existing units, and the affordable units are restricted by a covenant recorded with the County Recorder. State law requires rental affordable units to stay restricted for 55 years or longer where financing requires it (subdivision (c)(1)). The recorded covenant is typically among the clearances on the building permit application; the clearances guide takes the sequence department by department.
The project record lists several Los Angeles projects that used these incentives or the City's earlier Transit Oriented Communities program, from 8 units to 1,241 units.
Where the studio fits
A density bonus project is decided twice: once in feasibility, where the base case and the bonus case are drawn side by side and the owner picks one, and again at plan review, where every table on the sheets must agree with the application. TECTO Studio draws both ends in your Revit model, with the density table, the unit matrix and the parking tabulation built as model schedules, so a change to the plan updates the numbers on every sheet that shows them. Your architect of record decides the requests and holds responsible control of the set. See where the studio works in California and in Los Angeles.
Sources
- California Government Code section 65915, as amended by Stats. 2025, ch. 486 (AB 87): subdivisions (c)(1), (c)(3), (d)(2), (e), (f), (j)(1), (o)(2), (p), (q) and (v).
- Los Angeles City Planning, Citywide Housing Incentive Program.
- Los Angeles City Planning, Affordable Housing Incentives Guidelines (2024).
- California Department of Housing and Community Development, statutory determinations and technical resources.