For some of the county, yes, and for the rest of it we cannot tell you today. State regulators stopped approving new sewer line extension permits for parts of Brunswick County in November 2025 under a 2023 change in how capacity is counted, and as of September 26, 2026 we have found no public announcement that permitting has fully resumed on the west side of the county.
If you are buying a house that is already built, or one under construction on a lot with sewer already permitted and installed, none of this touches you. This matters for one specific kind of buyer: the person signing a contract for a home in a future phase, on a lot where the pipe is not in the ground yet.
It is also the reason some builders in Leland, Shallotte and the Brunswick beach towns have been slower to release new sections than their sales centers suggested a year ago. Here is what is actually going on, because the sales office version tends to be either too reassuring or too vague.
What changed, in plain English
North Carolina passed Senate Bill 673 in 2023. Among other things, it changed how the state counts wastewater capacity in fast-growing counties. The old approach looked at what was actually flowing through a treatment plant, and triggered planning at 80% of capacity and permitting for an expansion around 90%. The new approach counts flow that has been committed to approved but unbuilt homes as though it is already in the pipes.
Brunswick County is the first county where the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality applied that arithmetic. Under the new count, the county’s plants are treated as at or past their limit even though the pipes themselves are not full. Port City Daily reported on February 24, 2026 that the Northeast Brunswick Regional plant in Navassa was running at roughly 60% of capacity and the West Brunswick Regional facility in Supply at about 80%. The Wilmington regional office of the state agency stopped approving new sewer line extension permits in November 2025, and eight applications tied to the Northeast system were stalled.
County officials have been blunt about the size of the problem. County Manager Steve Stone told WHQR in March 2026 that meeting the new count could mean expanding by nine to twelve million gallons a day, which he described as staggering capital spending well ahead of when it was needed.
- Permit approvals for new sewer line extensions paused by the state’s Wilmington regional office starting November 2025, with eight applications stalled on the Northeast Brunswick system Port City Daily, February 24, 2026
- Northeast Brunswick Regional plant at roughly 60% of actual capacity, West Brunswick Regional at about 80% Port City Daily, February 24, 2026
- Expansions in progress: Northeast Brunswick adding 3.75 million gallons a day to reach 8.725, West Brunswick adding 6 to reach 12, Shallotte and Mulberry Branch to 2.75, Ocean Isle Beach adding 2 to reach 3.05 Port City Daily, February 24, 2026
- The change traces to Senate Bill 673, enacted in 2023, and state enforcement of it beginning in late 2025 Port City Daily, February 24, 2026, and WHQR, March 7, 2026
Which side of the county are you buying on?
The distinction that matters is which plant serves the community.
The northern end: Leland, Navassa and the Highway 17 corridor
This is the Northeast Brunswick Regional system, and it is the side where a path forward was identified first. In February 2026 the county said the state had identified a process to move the eight stalled applications forward, and that staff was submitting the data needed to resume line extension permitting. This is the corridor where most of the county’s production building happens, from Brunswick Forest to Magnolia Greens and the newer Logan Homes communities off Highway 17.
The west and the beaches: Shallotte, Supply, Oak Island, Holden Beach, Ocean Isle
This is the West Brunswick Regional system in Supply, and it is the side that has been less certain. County officials said in early 2026 that a solution there might take six months to a year, and we have not found a public announcement since then saying the matter is settled. If you are buying a to-be-built home in a future phase anywhere on this side of the county, this is a question to ask in writing.
What this means if you are buying new construction
Three practical things, in the order we raise them with clients.
First, find out whether the lot is inside a phase that already holds an approved sewer line extension permit, or whether the permit is still pending. Builders know the answer. Ask the sales agent to put it in writing, and if the answer is vague, ask for the phase number and permit status rather than a reassurance.
Second, read the delay language in the builder contract. New construction contracts in this market routinely give the builder generous time to deliver, and a utility permit delay is exactly the kind of event that language is written for. Know what happens to your earnest money, your rate lock and your closing date if the phase slips two quarters. If you are carrying a lock through a build, our mortgage update has the current rate picture and the extended-lock point we make to every new-construction buyer.
Third, understand that a permit freeze is not a development moratorium. The county has not stopped approving subdivisions, and it would need to adopt a formal moratorium to do that. What the state pause does is stop new pipe from being permitted, which quietly changes which lots a builder can actually deliver. Those are different things, and the distinction matters when a sales agent tells you construction in the county has not been halted. That statement is true and it is not the whole answer.
It is also worth knowing that not every community is on county sewer. Parts of Brunswick County run on septic or on private package treatment systems, and some builders are selling lots that were permitted years ago. Our new construction section lists what each builder is selling and where, and our Brunswick County market update covers how inventory and pace are moving while all of this works itself out.
We cannot tell you today when permitting resumes on the West Brunswick system, and anyone who tells you a date is guessing. The reporting we can source runs from November 2025 through the spring of 2026, the county has said there is no estimated resolution date, and expansions of this size take years rather than months. There is also a scenario nobody likes to talk about: if capacity stays constrained on one side of the county, the practical effect is fewer new homes delivered there, which supports resale prices and hurts buyers waiting on a build. If your plan depends on closing on a to-be-built home in a specific phase by a specific date, that is the risk to price in, and a finished home or a resale may simply be the better fit this year.
Related questions people also ask
Is there a building moratorium in Brunswick County?
No. A moratorium is a formal action a county adopts to pause development approvals, and Brunswick County has not adopted one. What happened instead is that state regulators stopped issuing permits for new sewer line extensions in parts of the county, which limits where new pipe can go without stopping subdivision approvals or construction on lots that already have utilities. The practical effect on a given community depends entirely on whether its sewer is already permitted and installed.
Can I still build on a lot with septic in Brunswick County?
Often yes, because a septic system is permitted through county environmental health rather than through the state sewer line extension process at issue here. Whether a specific lot will pass depends on soil, water table, lot size and setbacks, and a lot that perked years ago may not perk today under current conditions. Get a soil evaluation and a septic permit determination before you buy raw land, and budget for the system itself, which is a meaningful line item on a build.
Does this affect homes that are already built?
No. A home that is finished and connected to an existing sewer line is not affected by a pause on permits for new line extensions, and neither is your ability to sell it, refinance it or add on to it under normal county rules. The issue applies to new pipe being extended to serve new development. If you are buying an existing home in Leland, Shallotte, Southport or any of the beach towns, this story is background rather than a due diligence item.
If you are under contract or about to be on a to-be-built home in Brunswick County, ask the builder in writing for the phase number and the status of the sewer line extension permit that serves your lot, and read the delay clause before you sign. If you want someone who has read those contracts to look at yours first, schedule a consultation and our team will walk through it with you.
Sources: Port City Daily, “Brunswick County hits sewer capacity snag under new state law, freezes permits,” February 24, 2026. WHQR, “Brunswick County embroiled in new DEQ rule that slows development,” March 7, 2026. WECT, “Brunswick County sewer capacity issues halt new construction,” March 2, 2026. Brunswick County advisories and news page, read September 26, 2026. Tidal Realty Partners Brunswick County market update, August 2026 data, and mortgage update, September 2026.
