Virginia Beach building & ADU permits
Recent permit activity, updated continuously.
Virginia Beach is Virginia's most populous city, on the Atlantic coast, and regulates ADUs locally as the state has no statewide mandate. Igni filters the city's ArcGIS feed to building permits — which carry a reliable ZIP — and normalizes them under the City of Virginia Beach's public-records terms.
Igni is tracking 4,631 residential and building permits in Virginia Beach, VA — including 14 classified accessory-dwelling-unit (ADU) filings. The most active ZIP is 23454. The most recent filing Igni tracked was Oct 30, 2026. All records come from City of Virginia Beach open data (ArcGIS), an official government open-data feed, and are refreshed continuously.
4631
Permits tracked
14
ADU permits
9
Distinct ZIP codes
Oct 30, 2026
Newest permit
Recent permits
A sample of the freshest permits in this jurisdiction — ZIP and city only (no street addresses).
| ZIP | Permit type | ADU type | Valuation | Applied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23454 | Residential | — | — | Aug 25, 2026 |
| 23455 | Commercial | — | — | Aug 28, 2026 |
| 23452 | Commercial | — | — | Aug 28, 2026 |
| 23454 | Commercial | — | — | Aug 31, 2026 |
| 23451 | Residential | — | — | Sep 8, 2026 |
| 23452 | Residential | — | — | Sep 10, 2026 |
| 23455 | Residential | — | — | Sep 18, 2026 |
| 23452 | Commercial | — | — | Sep 21, 2026 |
| 23462 | Commercial | — | — | Sep 23, 2026 |
| 23462 | Residential | — | — | Sep 24, 2026 |
| 23452 | Residential | — | — | Sep 24, 2026 |
| 23452 | Residential | — | — | Sep 24, 2026 |
| 23456 | Residential | — | — | Sep 24, 2026 |
| 23456 | Residential | — | — | Sep 24, 2026 |
| 23455 | Residential | — | — | Sep 24, 2026 |
| 23451 | Commercial | — | — | Sep 28, 2026 |
| 23451 | Residential | — | — | Sep 29, 2026 |
| 23455 | Commercial | — | — | Oct 2, 2026 |
| 23454 | Residential | — | — | Oct 2, 2026 |
| 23451 | Residential | — | — | Oct 5, 2026 |
Top ZIP codes by recent activity
Permit activity in Virginia Beach
Igni counted 6,354 permits issued in Virginia Beach over the last 12 months (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026) — up 6.5% on the 5,966 in the 12 months before. The forecast expects about 3,034 over the next 6 months.
Forecast: seasonal naive, typical error ±5% in backtests one to six months ahead. How we forecast
| Permit type | Last 12 months | Year over year | Forecast, next 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 6,354 | Up 6.5% | ≈ 3,034 |
| Residential building | 4,854 | Up 5.5% | ≈ 2,301 |
| Commercial building | 1,141 | Up 3.3% | ≈ 570 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 0 | — | — |
| ADU | 27 | — | — |
Monthly figures
| Month | Permits | 10th–90th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2023 | 548 | — |
| Nov 2023 | 422 | — |
| Dec 2023 | 374 | — |
| Jan 2024 | 506 | — |
| Feb 2024 | 454 | — |
| Mar 2024 | 441 | — |
| Apr 2024 | 537 | — |
| May 2024 | 519 | — |
| Jun 2024 | 477 | — |
| Jul 2024 | 502 | — |
| Aug 2024 | 545 | — |
| Sep 2024 | 555 | — |
| Oct 2024 | 549 | — |
| Nov 2024 | 440 | — |
| Dec 2024 | 370 | — |
| Jan 2025 | 439 | — |
| Feb 2025 | 380 | — |
| Mar 2025 | 534 | — |
| Apr 2025 | 572 | — |
| May 2025 | 539 | — |
| Jun 2025 | 528 | — |
| Jul 2025 | 548 | — |
| Aug 2025 | 532 | — |
| Sep 2025 | 535 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 591 | — |
| Nov 2025 | 438 | — |
| Dec 2025 | 400 | — |
| Jan 2026 | 430 | — |
| Feb 2026 | 422 | — |
| Mar 2026 | 569 | — |
| Apr 2026 | 652 | — |
| May 2026 | 587 | — |
| Jun 2026 | 569 | — |
| Jul 2026 | 581 | — |
| Aug 2026 | 571 | — |
| Sep 2026 | 544 | — |
| Oct 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 629 | 605–682 |
| Nov 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 466 | 448–508 |
| Dec 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 426 | 410–465 |
| Jan 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 458 | 442–506 |
| Feb 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 449 | 434–501 |
| Mar 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 606 | 589–677 |
Counts are permits issued per calendar month as Virginia Beach publishes them to its open-data feed — not a complete census; a change in what the city publishes moves them too. The current month is left out, and the most recent months are provisional. A forecast is a statistical estimate with a range, not a prediction for any project. Informational only.
How long do permits take in Virginia Beach?
Based on 16,525 Virginia Beach permits applied for between Nov 2023 and Aug 2026, the typical (median) permit was issued 4 days after application, and the middle half of permits took 0–14 days. One in ten took longer than 43 days.
| Permit type | Median | Typical range | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 4 days | 0–14 days | 16,525 |
| Residential building | 2 days | 0–11 days | 12,815 |
| Commercial building | 15 days | 1–49 days | 2,907 |
| ADU | same day | 0–25 days | 59 |
Typical, not guaranteed: individual permits vary with project scope, application completeness and plan-review workload. Days are calendar days from application to issuance; applications still pending are counted as not-yet-issued rather than dropped. Informational only, not legal advice. How we calculate approval times.
Housing law — Virginia
Accessory dwelling units in Virginia are handled locally; without a statewide ADU mandate, rules differ by city and county.
Virginia has no statewide upzoning law; residential density is set by local zoning, with several Northern Virginia jurisdictions pursuing reform.
Virginia Beach ADU rules
Virginia Beach regulates accessory dwelling units at the district level rather than through a single citywide ADU ordinance, and Virginia has no statewide mandate requiring localities to allow them. Accessory dwellings are generally permitted in the city's single-family residential districts, with the specific standards — and whether an ADU is allowed at all — varying by zoning district under the City Zoning Ordinance.
Across districts, a Virginia Beach accessory dwelling must sit on the same lot as the primary home, its size is typically tied to a share of the principal dwelling's floor area or an absolute cap that depends on the district, and owner-occupancy is generally required. A proposal that meets the baseline requirements for its district — size, setbacks, and lot coverage — can usually proceed through building-permit review; a project that does not conform to those standards may need a special exception decided after a public hearing.
Because the rules differ meaningfully from one district to the next, homeowners are encouraged to confirm their parcel's zoning district and its specific accessory-dwelling standards with the Planning Department before designing a unit.
This is an informational summary — verify current rules with the city's planning/permitting department; not legal advice.
See also: Virginia ADU law and what is an ADU?
Data source
Sourced from City of Virginia Beach open data (ArcGIS). Public records (City of Virginia Beach).
Nearby cities — Virginia
Learn more about ADUs & building permits
Background reading on accessory dwelling units, building permits, and how Igni turns Virginia Beach permit records into leads.
Virginia Beach permit data — FAQ
Where does Igni get Virginia Beach permit data?
How fresh is Virginia Beach permit data?
How long does it take to get a building permit in Virginia Beach?
Is construction activity growing in Virginia Beach?
Does Virginia Beach allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs)?
Get permit leads — Virginia Beach
Fresh, filterable residential and ADU permit leads from Virginia Beach — delivered before your competitors even know.
Informational only, not legal advice. Headline counts reflect all permits Igni has tracked for this jurisdiction; the table shows recent activity. Housing law changes — verify current statutes before relying on this.