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City planning staff: housing production up from a decade ago but permits lag completions
Summary
City Planning presented the annual housing element progress report on June 1, saying production is higher than a decade ago but permitting and completions must accelerate to meet the element’s multi‑year goals.
City Planning staff presented the city’s annual housing‑element progress report to the Los Angeles City Council committee on Homelessness and Housing on June 1, saying the city has increased housing production compared with a decade ago but must accelerate permitting and completions to meet long‑term targets.
Planner Mac Lensleeve (City Planning) told the committee that the recently adopted housing element requires a nine‑year production goal that amounts to hundreds of thousands of units; staff said the practical production target requires roughly 50,000 units per year to reach a 456,000‑unit goal and that current annual completions average closer to 23,000 units. "We have to be building two or three times the amount of units we’re building to reach those goals," Lensleeve said.
Staff walked the committee through a 15‑year pattern of permits and completions, noting a peak year (2022) followed by declines in permit activity, while titles (entitlements) have remained comparatively strong. Blair Smith (City Planning) said the new TOC/ULAbased incentive programs and ED1 executive directive are driving projects into higher‑opportunity neighborhoods and that the first months of the TOC/ULa program produced thousands of committed affordable units and applications in high‑opportunity areas.
Why it matters: The housing‑element annual report is the city’s required progress update on meeting its state‑set housing needs and tied — according to staff — to potential state interventions and eligibility for some state programs. Staff warned that lagging permits relative to entitlements can reflect financing and macroeconomic factors and noted that not all entitled projects get built because of loan or market changes.
Key points from the presentation
- Staff compared 15 years of permit data and noted that recent production of affordable units is roughly three times what it was a decade ago for comparable measures. - The city’s housing‑element goal requires producing roughly 50,000 units per year to meet the nine‑year target; staff reported current annual completions nearer 23,000 units. - Programs driving recent activity include TOC/ULa incentives and ED1 policy changes; staff reported roughly 8,500 units filed in a short period after the TOC/ULa rule took effect, with a high share located in higher‑opportunity neighborhoods.
Committee questions and follow up
Members probed the disconnect between titles (entitlements) and building permits. Staff explained that entitlements often precede permitting and that projects can stall while seeking financing. Lensleeve said titles remaining strong demonstrates developer interest in building in Los Angeles but that permit declines reflect macroeconomic uncertainty and financing challenges.
Councilmembers asked for more granular metrics — for example, how many entitled projects actually reach permit and completion — and staff agreed to return with metrics showing pipeline conversion rates and where delays originate.
Ending: City Planning said it will provide follow‑up information on pipeline conversion, the number of units awaiting building permits and further details on how incentive programs are shifting the geography of proposed affordable housing.
