> There is a building going up in Oakland right now where Factory_OS put out a press release that they had built it in ten days. But they spent 7 years getting approvals, 18 months in site prep,
I'm currently gut remodeling a small house in Oakland. Permitting and regulations are a whopping 3% of the cost.
The land (the existing property) is 50%, and 40% is building costs.
Land costs (addressed via incremental upzoning) and build costs (addressed with more efficient building technology) are the 2 biggest things to address to make housing affordable, not the cost of permits.
Remodeling an existing structure won't really expose you to the regulatory burden, which is good for you but isn't the full picture. If you wanted to buy a SFH and build a duplex or, God forbid, a triplex, then you'd be paying serious money, mostly in the carrying costs of your debts while the government dithers over your application. This is why in California one of the most important recent state law changes was 2017's SB35, which mandates that local authorities must approve certain types of projects in 90 days or less. But the types of projects which benefit from this are fairly few.
On top of the carrying costs there are impact fees. These vary by city but you can see how crazy they are. In Fremont you will pay $160k per dwelling, that's just cash out of your pocket. Totally crazy.
I'm currently gut remodeling a small house in Oakland. Permitting and regulations are a whopping 3% of the cost.
The land (the existing property) is 50%, and 40% is building costs.
Land costs (addressed via incremental upzoning) and build costs (addressed with more efficient building technology) are the 2 biggest things to address to make housing affordable, not the cost of permits.