SB 894 (Allen) establishes low-interest loans for fire resilience upgrades

SACRAMENTO – Home hardening and defensible space improvements have recently become a major focus in California’s broader fire mitigation efforts, and now these renovation projects will be more affordable for property owners through SB 894, a bill authored by Senator Ben Allen (D-Pacific Palisades) and signed by Governor Newsom. The bill received bipartisan, unanimous support in the Legislature.

“California is taking an important step toward making wildfire resilience more affordable. SB 894 will help homeowners and businesses access low-interest financing to harden their properties and create defensible space — reducing risk before the next wildfire strikes. I’m grateful to Governor Newsom for signing this bill. If we want safer communities and a more stable insurance market, we have to help Californians take meaningful steps to protect their homes without putting those improvements financially out of reach.”

A recent study from UC Berkeley found that structures with key home hardening and defensible space features were more than twice as likely to survive a wildfire compared to structures without any mitigation work. This type of research has led to California’s push toward stronger home hardening regulations, which in turn has been a part of a broader effort to improve the insurability of communities statewide.

However, these structural upgrades can be too costly and financially out of reach for many residents. SB 894 addresses this by establishing a state-backed, low-interest loan program to help Californians finance and afford these fire mitigation improvements. The creative financing structure is modeled after California’s successful GoGreen energy-finance platform which has helped residents make energy-efficient upgrades to their property.

“Adopting a model that has proven to work is commonsense for one of California’s top priorities right now: reducing fire risk across California in the face of a changing climate,” Allen added.

“SB 894 becoming law is a historic win for Californians,” said Eric Horne, California Director at Megafire Action, the bill’s sponsor. “Thanks to Senator Ben Allen’s leadership, more families will be able to afford the upgrades that can protect their homes and communities from wildfire. This law creates an innovative model for stretching public dollars further and a foundation future leaders can build on, including Xavier Becerra’s vision for affordable community wildfire resilience. We’re incredibly proud to have sponsored SB 894 and grateful to Senator Allen for championing it from day one.”

The creation of the California Wildfire Resilience Loan Program comes at a time when affordable insurance is becoming more difficult to find, and fire risk has been increasing from dryer and hotter conditions. The program will be implemented by the State Treasurer’s Office.