A legal provision that strips a local government of its zoning authority over a specific project when the town has not adopted a compliant housing element. It allows developers to force approval of high-density or affordable housing projects even if they violate local height or density limits. Developers use this as leverage to push projects through resistant municipalities.
Heard on the job
The city council missed the state deadline, so the developer filed a builder's remedy lawsuit to push the apartment complex through.
Insider tip
This mechanism is heavily used in states like California and New Jersey to overcome local opposition to multi-family housing.