Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass has announced plans to streamline building permits to speed up housing construction in the city.
Bass signed an executive order on Monday to modernize Los Angeles’ permitting process and reduce delays. She said the housing shortage and barriers to opening a business predated her tenure as mayor, pointing to what she described as “City Hall’s housing dysfunction” when she took office.
The order follows Bass’ meeting with President Donald Trump, who criticized Los Angeles for its slowness to rebuild from the January 2025 wildfires. Trump signed an executive order earlier this year attempting to take over the rebuilding process and expedite permits.
The January 2025 Eaton and Palisades wildfires consumed nearly 40,000 acres in and around Los Angeles. Displaced residents say they’re frustrated with slow rebuilding efforts. Los Angeles has called for more federal resources to help with rebuilding.
But the changes in the executive order are informed by lessons learned coming out of the wildfires, Bass said.
Los Angeles considers permit reform
The reforms modernize the city’s permitting process with several new ideas. Los Angeles will expand its program of pre-approved housing plans, use artificial intelligence to expedite permit review, and connect different agencies involved in permit reviews under one online system.
Bass’ executive order also expands an online self-certification permitting program for commercial permits. And the city wants to speed up how it connects power to new buildings. The reforms will also aim to make it easier to open a business in the city.
The order sets new timelines on many of the steps in permit review. That could prevent permits from piling up at different departments, stretching out the timeline for building. It usually takes a few months to get building approved in Los Angeles.
“We’ve made real progress in delivering relief, and today represents a leap forward,” Bass said. “We’re not going to fix this by doing things the old way. It takes real, structural change in how housing and businesses are approved and built across Los Angeles—and that’s exactly what these reforms deliver.”
Bass and Supervisor Kathryn Barger met with Trump at the White House to discuss rebuilding efforts last week on Friday. Later, Barger said in a post on X that they “had a very positive discussion” about Federal Emergency Management Agency funding, insurance reform, and other measures.
At the state level, California lawmakers are debating reforms to the fire insurance industry aimed at helping consumers navigate the process. And they’re considering other ideas, including loosening the rules around factory-built housing, that could result in faster construction.
The state-by-state housing affordability report card from Realtor.com® gives California an F, due in part to the slow pace of building.
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Tristan Navera is a senior reporter on housing policy, covering trends and solutions in the housing market from Washington, DC. He was previously a senior reporter at Bloomberg Law, and before that covered real estate for the Washington Business Journal. Earlier in his career, he spent a decade reporting on business and real estate in Dayton and Columbus, OH. A Cincinnati native, he holds a journalism degree from Ohio University.
