A case for permit shot clocks builds as approval durations drag out

States have been trying to rein in local governments that have let permitting timelines grow longer and longer, bending risk barriers to new housing development to a break point.A new academic paper shows why that intervention is needed, especially in some of the country’s priciest markets.Economists at the University of Chicago and Princeton didn’t evaluate any single state’s reform package, but their work focused on the time-to-permit durations and their effects. They show that slow permitting is a measurable, worsening drag on housing supply, not just an anecdotal developer complaint.The paper adds compelling empirical weight to a policy push already underway across the country.San Francisco and Miami top the list of the slowest cities in the country for both permitting and total project duration, for single-family and multifamily development alike. San Francisco’s permitting timeline of just over a year is shorter than Miami’s 1.5 years. But its permitting and approval process is strung out so long that it takes nearly four years to build a single-family home. A standardized 20-unit Apartment building’s timeline is nearly 5 years, according to the paper by Princeton’s Evan Solt...