Pali Builds has reviewed the most recent permit data released by the City of Los Angeles Department of Building & Safety (LADBS). Below is a summary of key trends, issuance timing, and neighborhood activity.
Applications Submitted
A total of 102 applications were submitted last month.
This represents:
- A 43% decrease from December’s 180 applications
- A 20% decrease from October’s 127 applications
- A 12% decrease from November’s 116 applications
While there is a notable drop from December’s peak, the current volume is generally consistent with fall trends. December appears to have been an unusually high month, likely influenced by year-end submittals.
Permits Issued
A total of 98 permits were issued, with an average issuance time of 111 days.
Processing Time Observations
- Fastest permit issued in January: 33 days
- Longest permit issued: 307 days
The 111-day average reflects a modest increase in processing time, influenced in part by several long-duration permits that skew the overall average.
It is important to note that not all delays are attributable to LADBS processing. Based on feedback from homeowners and builders, contributing factors outside of city review include:
- Delays in insurance payout processing
- Lenders holding insurance funds in escrow pending additional documentation
- HOA architectural review and approval timelines
- Homeowners delaying permit pull until full project funding is secured
In some instances, permits are ready for issuance but are not immediately pulled due to financial or administrative considerations.
Special Permit Observations
The data also indicates:
- 1 SB9 permit issued (Kagawa Street)
- 14 permits (14%) labeled as ineligible under EO1
- 1 online-only submittal
- 1 modular home permit
The low number of online-only submittals suggests that most applicants continue to use in-person or hybrid processing channels.
Permit Activity by Neighborhood
Below is the breakdown of the 98 issued permits by neighborhood:
| Neighborhood | Permits | Percentage of Total |
|---|---|---|
| Alphabets | 27 | 27.6% |
| Marquez Knolls | 18 | 18.4% |
| Via Bluffs | 17 | 17.3% |
| El Medio Bluffs | 11 | 11.2% |
| Huntington | 8 | 8.2% |
| Highlands | 5 | 5.1% |
| Las Casas | 4 | 4.1% |
| Castellammare | 4 | 4.1% |
| Upper Bel Air | 1 | 1.0% |
| Will Rogers | 1 | 1.0% |
| Upper El Medio | 1 | 1.0% |
| Riviera | 1 | 1.0% |
Key Neighborhood Trends
- The Alphabets continues to lead in activity, accounting for 27.6% of all permits issued.
- The top three neighborhoods (Alphabets, Marquez Knolls, and Via Bluffs) represent approximately 63% of all issued permits.
- Permit activity remains concentrated in core rebuild areas, with several neighborhoods showing early-stage movement.
Overall Assessment
While application volume has moderated from December’s surge, issuance levels remain strong relative to submissions (98 permits issued versus 102 applications submitted), suggesting continued throughput in the pipeline.
Processing times remain variable. The data demonstrates that permits can move through the system quickly in certain cases, while extended durations are often influenced by financial, lending, insurance, or HOA-related factors.
Pali Builds will continue monitoring monthly trends to provide transparency and meaningful insight into the rebuild progress across the community.
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thank you for this. do you know what percentage of eligible homes/lots have been permitted to date?
We are just under 600 new build permits. Based on the 5000 or so homes lost, we are in the 11-12% range of the rebuild. It is nice to see a steady flow of roughly 100 applications and 100 permits each month. By the end of the year with this rate, we could be in the 35-40% range.
Does anyone predict the length of time before 80-90% of the destroyed homes will be rebuilt? Seems like it could be four to five years before we have our neighborhoods back to a semblance of pre-fire days? G. Junger, El Medio Bluffs
We think that it will take a long time to get to 80-90% only for the fact that a good amount might never build back and sit on their properties. We believe we will get to 60-70% in 5 years and then a slow trickle after that. With brand new schools and recreation center coming online around 2028, we could see property values rise which would result in homeowners that were never planning on building back would then sell their lots.
Is there any additional data on what is happening with these 600 permits? Are there really enough builders and trades to support 600 concurrent projects? Any sense of who is pulling the most permits or if it is mainly just individuals who had built homes over the past several years submitting to rebuild without having a builder associated yet?
There are definitely enough builders. The biggest complaint we are actually getting from all the builders is that they are not seeing as many jobs as they had expected. That is understandable given a lot of people are still dealing with insurance payouts, etc.