A Los Angeles County judge has issued a ban on all permit requests for home renovations in Beverly Hills until the ritzy city builds thousands of new residences, most of which must be classified as affordable housing. While the ban was ruled upon with immediate effect in December as punishment for the city failing to build new housing, the Los Angeles Times reported that the city’s millionaires and billionaires will still be able to add pool grottoes, bowling alleys, and more while the city appeals the decision. If that appeal is unsuccessful, however, all non-new-housing permits will be banned indefinitely—a potential thorn in the side of celebrities and entrepreneurs—like Jeff Bezos and Taylor Swift—who wish to make tweaks to their mansions there. “I’m shocked by the judgment,” said Murray Fischer, a prominent local real estate attorney interviewed by the Times. “It would mean that the city is at a standstill.”
