KQED's The California Report With New Laws In Place, Lawmakers Look At Solutions For Housing Shortage
Jan 30, 2026
Buffy Wicks, California assemblymember and chair of the Select Committee on Housing and Construction Innovation, discusses ways to make building more affordable. She covers prefab and modular construction, limits of innovation like high interest and material costs, and a three-pronged strategy: streamline rules, cut costs, and fund shovel-ready low-income projects.
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Construction Cost Drives Housing Crisis
- California homes cost significantly more to build than elsewhere due to inefficiencies in current construction methods.
- Buffy Wicks highlights innovation in construction as a key lever to reduce housing costs and speed delivery.
Lessons From Sweden's Factory-Built Homes
- Buffy Wicks visited Sweden and found 85% of new single-family homes are factory-built, showing a scaled prefab industry.
- She also toured U.S. factories in Idaho like Autoval and Geerdin to compare practices and scale.
Scale Is The Missing Ingredient For Prefab
- Prefab and modular methods in the U.S. exist but lack the necessary scale to lower costs substantially.
- The committee is investigating barriers preventing wider adoption of factory-built housing here.