California: Governor and LA Rises announce new online resource to further help LA fire survivors navigate rebuilding

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Dec 23, 2025

Governor and LA Rises announce new online resource to further help LA fire survivors navigate rebuilding

State supported AI-powered permitting tool shows accelerated approvals

What you need to know: Governor Newsom and LA Rises today announced a new online tool to further help LA fire survivors navigate the rebuilding process, and connect them with information, resources, and pathways for rebuilding — including through Archistar, the AI-powered permitting tool, which is helping homeowners speed through permitting approvals.

LOS ANGELES – Governor Gavin Newsom and LA Rises today launched a new webpage with resources and information to help homeowners who lost their homes during the 2025 LA firestorms. Building on existing resources, the new online resource lays out the pathway for rebuilding, providing survivors with connections with trusted community organizations, homebuilders, prefabricated homes, preapproved plans, mortgage relief, and rebuilding calculators. Created with community input, the site is designed with survivors in mind, to make the rebuilding process easier and help survivors navigate through the process based on their needs.

"Recovery takes time, but every day counts for families working to rebuild. We continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with survivors — walking with them through local processes and supporting the hard work of rebuilding. As we near the one-year mark of this tragedy, we know the pain hasn't faded. The job isn't finished, and we'll keep showing up to speed progress, support and resources these communities deserve."

Governor Gavin Newsom

"California continues to show up for one another – just as we did when the fires devastated our communities nearly one year ago. While the work of rebuilding is far from over, this new online resource will help survivors navigate the path ahead. As many still mourn the loss of their homes and neighborhoods filled with memories, I am deeply proud of the resilience and compassion that unites our state."

First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom

The website continues the Governor's collaboration with LA Rises, which was announced earlier this year and works with local communities to help guide the state's response. LA Rises is a unified recovery initiative that brings together private sector leaders to support rebuilding efforts led by the City of Los Angeles, Los Angeles County and the State of California, and has helped connect local communities with funding and resources.

Recovery at your fingertips

The website larises.org/resources includes the following resources for survivors in a user-friendly manner to help homeowners navigate the multistep process of rebuilding:

• Explanation of the main rebuilding options
• Pathways and tips for rebuilding, including for modular or factory-built homes, predesigned homes, semi-custom homes, and custom homes – with a new resource for semi-custom and custom homes built specifically for LA fire survivors by Houzz.
• Rebuilding resource hub with trusted partners, including builders, vendors, and organizations
• Additional resources, including a recovery services finder, local government sites, and mortgage assistance

State support leads to faster permitting reviews

The new site builds on the Governor's actions to help accelerate recovery, by issuing multiple executive orders, taking legislative action, and providing new resources to speed up the permitting and building processes. As a result, permits to rebuild homes in the Los Angeles area are moving forward at a pace that is on average nearly three times faster than permits for single-family homes and ADUs in the five years before the fires. While each jurisdiction tracks data slightly differently, and data reflects a particular point in time, aggregated information shows rebuilding permits are, on average, issued in fewer than three months, with local agencies processing permits with, on average, fewer than 30 days of local review time.

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This accelerated permitting approval is in part thanks to the Governor's orders suspending CEQA and Coastal Act requirements to rebuild homes damaged or destroyed by the fires. In alignment with the Governor's executive orders, local governments have created fast-tracked permitting pathways for fire rebuilds, eliminating unnecessary reviews and streamlining local processes. In addition, local agencies have used $4 million in state grant funding to increase staffing and resources, further accelerating timelines.

AI-powered permitting tool speeds permitting time

The new site also provides survivors with direct access to AI-powered permitting software, which the Governor first announced in April, and has been accessed by hundreds of users.  The software, created by Archistar, was provided free of charge to the local governments and to users through a partnership between the state and philanthropic partners, including LA Rises and Steadfast LA with contributions from Autodesk and Amazon. The technology enables homeowners and their designers to review and refine plans before submitting them to local agency reviewers, saving homeowners time and cost. This tool improves efficiency, accuracy, transparency, and speed of the rebuilding process.

For those who used the technology in Los Angeles County, the average staff review time in the permitting process was reduced by an average of 54% for "like-for-like" rebuilds compared to applications without an Archistar report. For permitting applications with a non "like-for-like" rebuild, the permitting time was reduced by more than 36%. In the City of LA, early results show pre-review by Archistar can result in similar reductions to permitting timelines.

The city and county continue to promote the use of e-checks through Archistar for faster approval. You can sign up for AI-powered plan review in LA County here, in the City of LA here, and in Malibu here.

Suspended building codes

In addition to issuing multiple executive orders, Governor Newsom has also helped speed permitting and rebuilding by suspending building codes for residents rebuilding from the fires to create certainty and avoid the need to modify applications and lengthen the permitting process. This includes allowing homeowners who built their homes to the standards in the 2019 Building Code to use their previously approved plans, and a suspension of building codes that would have gone into effect on January 1, 2026, when not all homeowners will have finalized their plans to rebuild.

Trump abandons LA fire survivors

In addition to taking action to speed rebuilding, the Governor is also standing up for the Altadena, Palisades, and Malibu communities by calling out the White House for failing to approve long-term disaster funding for survivors of last year's catastrophic Los Angeles wildfires.

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The Governor, who recently went to Washington, D.C. to advocate for survivors, renewed his call for immediate approval of the disaster supplemental, urging Congress and the President to deliver the same compassion and urgency that have been extended to other communities across the nation.

As the LA community focuses on rebuilding homes, schools, utilities, and critical infrastructure while also supporting small businesses and job growth in the impacted region, they cannot do it alone: the federal government plays a critical role as a partner to the state in this long-term recovery effort. Funding in this supplemental appropriation would:

• Fund the rebuilding of schools, childcare centers, homes, and vital community facilities. This helps thousands of working families, veterans who lost homes, and nearly thousands of students displaced from their schools.
• Keep small businesses open, support the economy, and maintain jobs. LA's small businesses and family-owned enterprises are the backbone of our local and national economy. Disaster loans and grants will keep them open, preserve thousands of jobs, and spur wider economic recovery — benefiting Americans who may never set foot in Los Angeles but rely on its goods, services, and culture.
• Restore damaged water systems, rebuild responder infrastructure, and improve air quality monitoring. This protects not only LA's population but the tens of millions who travel, conduct business, and interact with the region each year.

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