SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California builders are getting new tools to fight slow permitting, repeated plan-check rounds and surprise requirements late in the process. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a package of more than 30 housing bills on Sept. 29, including measures that tighten permit deadlines, create a fast-track approval path for townhomes and lower costs for factory-built housing.
Newsom said families should not have to wait years for approvals. His office pointed to progress already made: the average time from application to entitlement fell from 160 days to 68 days in 2024, and annual home construction grew from about 70,000 homes in 2018 to about 111,000 in 2024.
Here are the changes most likely to affect builders and contractors. Details are drawn from bill analyses by law firms Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and Holland & Knight.
Faster permits, fewer plan-check rounds
AB 1621, by Assemblymember Lori Wilson, targets the permits builders need after a project is approved: building, grading, demolition and similar permits. A 2022 law, AB 2234, already set deadlines for cities to act on those permits. AB 1621 tightens them.
Under the new law:
- Cities get two plan checks and specification reviews on a building permit application. After that, the city can deny the application, and the builder can reapply.
- Cities must act on post-entitlement permits within 30 days for projects of 25 or fewer units and 45 days for projects of 26 or more units.
- When another public agency has to review the application, the city's clock pauses, and the city must notify the applicant.
The bill was sponsored by the California Building Industry Association. Some cities opposed it.
A fast track for townhomes
AB 1751, the Missing Middle Townhome Ownership Act by Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, creates a by-right approval path for for-sale townhome projects. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2027.
Qualifying projects are approved by planning staff without discretionary review, public hearings or appeals, and are not subject to CEQA review. Key requirements include:
- All-townhome projects of up to 150 units
- Townhomes of three stories or fewer, with an average size of no more than 1,750 net habitable square feet
- Fee-simple lots as small as 600 square feet
- Sites zoned multifamily, or underused single-family sites with no occupied homes
- 10% of units sold at affordable housing cost for projects of 11 or more units, unless a stricter local inclusionary rule applies
The law has no labor requirements, unlike some other state streamlining laws, and projects get the 60-day Permit Streamlining Act deadline for ministerial approvals. It excludes San Francisco, the coastal zone, high fire hazard zones, farmland, historic resources and sites with existing tenants or rent-controlled units.
Quirk-Silva said the law makes townhomes easier and faster to build and gives more families a path to owning a home.
Factory-built housing gets a break
Two bills aim to cut costs for modular and factory-built homes.
AB 1815, by Assemblymember Buffy Wicks, bars cities from adding building standards for factory-built housing beyond the state's own. Cities can still adopt changes for local climate, geology or topography, such as wildfire or flood risk, but only with formal findings filed with the state Building Standards Commission. Wicks called it a step toward removing unnecessary barriers to lower-cost building methods.
AB 2058, by Assemblymember John Harabedian, lets a private quality-assurance agency inspect factory-built homes under rules the state will write. If a project uses that agency, the city cannot charge an installation inspection fee. Local inspection and permit fees for factory-built homes are capped at half the equivalent fees for site-built housing unless the city shows a higher cost is justified.
No surprise improvements
SB 1014, by Sen. Tim Grayson, lets a builder ask a city or county, along with other agencies and utilities, for an early, non-binding estimate of the on-site and off-site improvements a project will need. Cities generally cannot require improvements that weren't on that list when issuing post-entitlement permits, unless the project changes, health and safety findings support it, or CEQA requires it.
CEQA changes
Several bills narrow CEQA review for housing:
- SB 958 (Weber Pierson): on qualifying previously graded infill sites already covered by an earlier environmental review, added building height alone is not considered a significant environmental impact.
- AB 1732 (Alvarez): extends a CEQA exemption to affordable housing on public university and college land that meets labor standards.
- SB 328 (Grayson): lets the former Concord Naval Weapons Station redevelopment use existing environmental reviews.
- SB 344 (Weber Pierson): CEQA provisions for San Diego's Midway District mixed-use project. It took effect immediately as an urgency measure.
Quick reference
Bill | Topic | Key change |
|---|---|---|
AB 1621 | Post-entitlement permits | Two plan checks; 30- or 45-day decisions |
AB 1751 | Townhomes | By-right, CEQA-free approval up to 150 units |
AB 1815 | Factory-built standards | No local standards beyond the state's, with limited exceptions |
AB 2058 | Factory-built fees | Private inspection option; local fees capped at 50% |
SB 1014 | Improvement requirements | Early estimates; limits on later add-ons |
SB 958 | CEQA | Height alone not a significant impact on qualifying infill |
AB 1732 | CEQA | Exemption for affordable housing on public college land |
When it takes effect
AB 1751 takes effect Jan. 1, 2027. The governor's office did not list effective dates for the other bills. California laws that aren't passed as urgency measures generally take effect on Jan. 1 of the following year, and SB 344 took effect immediately.
What to watch
The biggest question is how cities respond. The two-plan-check limit and shorter deadlines only help if local building departments can keep up. AB 1751's townhome path will depend on how many sites qualify once local objective standards are applied. And for modular builders, AB 2058's private inspection option won't be available until the state writes the rules.
This article summarizes new laws for general information and is not legal advice. Builders should confirm details with counsel or their local building department.