Tulsa Marks Progress on Housing Since Smart Growth Report Launched
In February, Housing Forward in partnership with the City of Tulsa, The Anne & Henry Zarrow Foundation and Smart Growth America released the Smart Growth Tulsa report, an analysis of Tulsa’s housing needs and opportunities. Since the report’s release, many of the recommendations made to expedite housing development have seen significant progress, through advocacy, collaboration and partnership between the City of Tulsa, Housing Forward, developers, housing nonprofits and influencers like Housing Partnership Network, Incremental Development Alliance and more.
This article is part of a multi-part series highlighting how these recommendations are being implemented as our community works to move housing forward in Tulsa.
Smart Growth Recommendation: Streamline permitting process and ensure procedural consistency to facilitate faster and more predictable development outcomes
What’s Changed: During Mayor Nichols’ Inauguration speech on December 2, 2024 he spoke to the shortage of housing in Tulsa, especially affordable housing, designating it one of his major priorities. Shortly thereafter, Housing Forward released its Smart Growth Tulsa Report, outlining recommendations for increasing housing in order to meet the needs of our community. As part of the collaboration between the City of Tulsa and Housing Forward a Donation of Services Agreement and Data-Sharing Agreement between the City of Tulsa and Housing Forward was approved by Tulsa City Council (August 2025), enabling Housing Forward to collaborate closely with the City’s Development Services department. Through this work, Housing Forward and Development Services have been assessing the current development process and reviewing permitting data in order to identify improvements to the permitting process. Already, progress includes updates to notifications from the online permitting portal to include both applicants and property owners, as well as modernizing key steps, such as moving cross-departmental review, such as easement closures, into the same permitting portal.
Additional progress to the permitting process made this year included the commitment of two additional permit reviewers in the FY26 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026) City of Tulsa budget focused on housing-supportive infrastructure and residential building plan review which have already been filled. Due to budget constraints for the City of Tulsa, the FY26 budget only created four new positions, as well as two grant-funded positions that were made permanent. The addition of personnel is one of the most significant investments the City of Tulsa can make and shows significant commitment to meeting Tulsa’s housing needs. Additional staffing also provides more capacity to grow the customer-centric culture within Development Services. As an example, unlike many cities, Tulsa provides same-day inspections for permit applications. This responsiveness keeps development on track by swiftly scheduling inspections as soon as needed, at times convenient for contractors and property owners.
The upcoming 2026 launch of the T-Town Home Catalog will further streamline permitting by providing pre-reviewed permit-ready residential design options, reducing review times and simplifying the process for builders and homeowners. People using designs from the catalog will still need to apply for a permit in order to ensure the plans are being placed correctly on the lot with a site plan, but the process is anticipated to be much faster (1 to 3 days). Available designs will range from single-family housing, duplexes, backyard cottages (accessory dwelling units or “ADUs”) and more. The City is hoping to launch the T-Town Home Catalog in the 1st quarter of 2026 and exploring options to make the plans free if used for affordable housing. Expanding eligible locations for T-Town Home Catalog typologies would increase the impact of this tool in Tulsa’s housing ecosystem.
Communities that grow, thrive. Tulsa’s present housing supply is not meeting the needs of its community. By tackling the recommendations made in our Smart Growth Report such as streamlining development, removing regulatory barriers, and aligning housing with transportation and infrastructure investments, Tulsa can create a more accessible and affordable housing market, giving Oklahomans the freedom to choose how and where they live.
Next Steps:
Complete assessment of current permitting workflow and publish findings.
City of Tulsa is launching the T-Town Home Catalog in early 2026, stay tuned!
Continue collaboration between Housing Forward and Development Services to identify additional process improvements.
Explore opportunities to better align Tulsa zoning code with T-Town Home Catalog housing options.