It’s been over a year since devastating wildfires tore through Los Angeles, destroying more than 13,000 homes. As of April 2026, only 36 homes have been rebuilt according to LA County’s recovery dashboard.

For many families, the question is no longer when they’ll return, but if they’ll be able to at all. Although 90% of impacted homeowners say they plan to rebuild, they are navigating rising construction costs, insurance coverage gaps, and an increasingly complex rebuild process. This moment raises an urgent question: how can we rebuild faster, more affordably, and with fewer risks along the way?

What’s happening on the ground

There are some promising signs of progress. As of April 2026, nearly 2,000 rebuilding permits have been issued, and the rebuilding of many homes are beginning to go vertical. Los Angeles County has also introduced a program featuring 11 selected design-build firms with pre-approved plans, including Villa, to help streamline approvals and reduce friction for homeowners.

But for many families, rebuilding unfortunately remains slow and prohibitively expensive.

According to a survey of policy holders reported by LAist, there is a growing gap between insurance coverage and rebuild costs, with some homeowners facing costs of rebuilding that are 40%+ higher than what their insurance policies covered, with an average funding gap of approximately $300,000.

Much of the rebuild pricing in these contractors’ bids likely reflect traditional, site-built construction methods. But that may not be the right path forward in a market where skilled labor is limited and demand for residential construction is rising as more homes begin to be rebuilt. As more homeowners begin the process of rebuilding and trade labor becomes ever more scarce and stretched locally, timelines can elongate and costs can escalate quickly. However, there is another way forward that can help homeowners lock in greater cost certainty and build more efficiently.

Why offsite construction is gaining traction

Since 2019, Villa has delivered hundreds of homes across California using volumetric offsite construction. Our model allows homes to be built faster, and often more cost-efficiently, than traditional methods.

Traditional, site-built construction relies heavily on local labor and trades, which exposes projects to budget and schedule risks inherent with building on-site. Offsite construction helps relieve that pressure. By shifting a significant portion of the build process to a facility-based setting, offsite construction can reduce the burden on local crews while typically accelerating delivery timelines, reducing waste, and minimizing on-site delays. For example, foundations can be poured on-site while the home is built in parallel at a homebuilding facility, which may significantly reduce total construction time.

Offsite construction can also introduce greater predictability. Building in a controlled environment can also reduce risks of delays from weather-driven events, accelerate building timelines (as all materials and labor are co-located in the facility building homes), reduce cost variability (as a significant portion of the construction cost is typically “locked-in” upfront, often reducing the risk of change orders and cost increases). All of this helps homeowners better understand what to expect, which feels especially valuable in an already uncertain process.

At a time when thousands of homes need to be rebuilt, offsite construction can help reduce delays, limit cost overruns, and bring much-needed certainty around the process.

How Villa can help you rebuild

Several Villa team members and clients were directly impacted by the wildfires, making the need to act both immediate and personal.

In response, Villa developed a line of homes specifically for Altadena, one of the hardest hit neighborhoods. These homes are designed to reflect the existing aesthetics and character of the community, with inspiration drawn from traditional craftsman architecture. In many cases, they enable fast delivery without compromising on quality or design. Villa’s Altadena homes are ENERGY STARⓇ certified and include options to make homes solar ready. Moreover, Villa’s Altadena homes are designed with fire safety in mind, with available features including WUI-compliant materials (meeting the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code for homes in designated fire hazard severity zones), fire suppression systems, and other features.

Villa is also helping simplify one of the most challenging parts of rebuilding: approvals and permitting. As one of a select group of builders included in Los Angeles County’s pre-approved plan program, Villa can provide homeowners with:

• Streamlined approvals, usually with shortened and more predictable review timelines
• Lower upfront costs, including deferred or refunded permitting fees for qualifying property owners
• Designs built to align with current California building standards
• Visualization tools, to see how a home may fit on a specific lot before committing

If we want to rebuild at the scale this moment demands, we need to rethink how homes get built. Offsite may be one of the best levers we can pull to move quickly.

Notes

ENERGY STAR® is a registered trademark owned by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Villa homes built in designated fire hazard severity zones are designed to align with the California Wildland-Urban Interface Code (Part 7, Title 24, California Code of Regulations). For more information on Fire Hazard Severity Zones and WUI-compliant building materials, visit osfm.fire.ca.gov. No building material or construction method can guarantee protection against fire conditions, and Villa does not guarantee that any home will be undamaged in a wildfire or other fire event. Individual home features, timelines, and costs may vary. Information provided is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, construction, or safety advice. Villa expressly disclaims all liability that may be based upon or related to the information provided herein.

Villa Technologies, Inc., CLSB # 1077688, HCD DL1564605

References

Los Angeles County Office of Disaster Management. (2025). Permitting progress dashboard. LA County Recovery. https://recovery.lacounty.gov/rebuilding/permitting-progress-dashboard/

Department of Angels. (2025). One year after the LA fires: What recovery looks like now. https://www.deptofangels.org/news/one-year-after-the-la-fires-what-recovery-looks-like-now

LAist. (2025). Eaton and Palisades fire victims face soaring rebuild costs as AAA exits market. https://laist.com/brief/news/climate-environment/eaton-palisades-fire-altadena-aaa-insurance-rebuild-costs

CertainTeed. (n.d.). Five ways offsite construction enhances efficiency and speed. https://www.certainteed.com/inspiration/how-tos/five-ways-offsite-construction-enhances-efficiency-and-speed

Los Angeles County Office of Disaster Management. (2025). Fee deferrals and refunds. LA County Recovery. https://recovery.lacounty.gov/rebuilding/fee-deferrals-and-refunds/