Houston plans-approval timing visualization. Single-family projects had a typical duration of 63 days and tract homes 29 days. Median department review times were Airport 11 days, Utility review 15 days, Traffic 23 days, Planning 28 days, Flood plain 29 days, Storm drain 39 days, Structural 42 days. Project 26024775 reached plans approval in 64 days after 3 submissions and 2 correction rounds across 4 review sections. The City requested corrections on day 20, the builder resubmitted on day 30, the City requested another round of corrections on day 37, and the builder resubmitted again on day 55. Ball in court for Houston plans approval. The match traces the example permit's 64 days across 5 possession runs and 4 City-builder handoffs: City 20 days, builder 10 days, City 7 days, builder 18 days, and City 9 days. Those same 5 runs group by holder, split back into chronological order, shrink into a longest-to-shortest comparison with 49 neighboring permits, then zoom out to all 500 approved Single-family homes, one row each. Rows longer than the 350-day display range fade at the right edge.
On desktop, tab to the story text and use arrow keys, Page Up, or Page Down to move through the narrative.
Houston
How long does a housing permit take?
City of Houston data
How long does a housing permit take?
scroll
01 / 05
TurboPermit analyzed City of Houston plan review records for custom and tract homes. We’re sharing our insights because it’s surprisingly difficult to get a clear answer to the question: “How long does a housing permit actually take?”
02 / 05
Single-family homes had plans approved in a typical 63 days. Tract homes moved through in 29 days.
03 / 05
Variation in individual permits was high across project types. The middle 50% of permits took between 34–113 days for Single-family homes and 20–58 days for tract homes.
04 / 05
You submit your plans, and the City routes them for review. Departments like Utility, Traffic, Planning, and Structural each review and sign off, and corrections come back for you to fix and resubmit. When the last sign-off lands, your plans are approved.
Ball In Court
First, the back-and-forth for one permit. Then all 500 approved Single-family homes, one row each.
Department review times
This department breakdown shows how many days each review ran, from start to sign-off for new Single-family permits.
05 / 05
TurboPermit catches likely issues before you submit, organizes department feedback, prepares required forms, and guides your project through the permitting process; all from your phone or laptop.
