Dive Brief:
- The US Department of Housing and Urban Development is offering up to $3 million in grants for local governments to implement automated building code and permit systems.
- Cities can receive a maximum of $1.5 million in financing, with a minimum of $300,000. The deadline to submit the application is July 13.
- HUD will work with state and local governments “to test new automated permitting tools that can increase the speed and reduce the cost of permitting, with broader goals of promoting housing affordability.”
Diving knowledge:
The housing offer is the issue number one for local governments, municipal leaders say.
As cities seek to address the housing affordability crisis, more are overhauling theirs authorization processes with AI systems to improve efficiency and streamline further development.
President Donald Trump issued an executive order in March with mandates to reduce regulatory barriers to affordable housing construction, including slow authorization processes.
Last month HUD also released a list of “regulatory best practices” for the localities it included incorporate AI into building permits processes
HUD said it will work closely with grantees to evaluate the impact of AI permits and building code tools to inform broader adoption. “Although these systems are increasingly being marketed to state and local governments, there is limited publicly available documentation on implementation experiences, personnel implications, and governance considerations,” HUD said.
The HUD funding would cover the initial three-year software license period, as well as costs associated with salaries and personnel expenses to manage the adoption and operation of the automated system, according to HUD.
Participating jurisdictions could deploy systems to help with application receipt, integrity checks, automated code control and digital workflow management, the agency said, citing platforms such as PermitFlow, Blitz Permits, CivCheck and Permitify as examples.
