In a sign of recovering for the local economy, building permits are on the upswing in Los Angeles for the first time since the onset of the global pandemic.
Between April 1 and June 30, the Department of Building and Safety issued 40,888 permits - a 55 percent increase from 26,324 permits issued during the same period last year. The total valuation of the permits issued during that three-month period, an estimated $1.5 billion, was also an improvement over the $1.3 billion figure from one year prior.
The number of plan checks during April, May, and June, an indicator of future building permits, increased by 27 percent relative to last year, rising from 14,180 in 2020 to 18,006 in 2021. Inspections, which indicate ongoing work on a construction project, saw a slight jump from 238,258 in 2020 to 242,946 in 2021.
Permits, inspections, and plan-checks between April 1, 2021 and June 30, 2021LADBS
The quarterly statistics reflect an improving outlook for the City of Los Angeles as the number of COVID-19 vaccination doses administered gradually increases and the health safety measures put into place over one year ago are lifted. One year ago, the total number of permits issued by the Department of Building and Safety dropped precipitously as the pandemic stalled worksites across the region.
However, current numbers pale in comparison to figures from late 2019, when a quarterly report showed that nearly 50,000 permits - valued at over $2.1 billion - were issued. Likewise, the total valuation of permits from the past fiscal year - $6.1 billion - fell far below the prior year's total of $7.8 billion.
