For example, per the 2020 rules in California, you can typically build an ADU or a junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU) on your property. The ADUs that are exempt from state laws can be up to 800 square feet.
You might wish to expand your property without necessarily adding on more to your house. One possible solution is building an accessory dwelling unit or an ADU. Ideally, you’d like the ADU in your backyard or elsewhere on your property. Is this legally allowed?
Whether you can build an ADU in your backyard or on your property varies on a state and city/town zoning, ordinances, and building code. Even if an ADU is allowed where you live, you often need a permit, and you might be limited on the size of the ADU, along with other specific requirements as well.
If you’re eager to learn more about building an ADU on your property, this article will be your guide. Ahead, we’ll explain the types of ADUs, whether you can build one in your yard, and which permits and zoning laws you must abide by.
As we touched on in the intro, ADU stands for “accessory dwelling unit.” ADUs go by many nicknames, such as secondary suites, backyard cottages, in-law units, and granny flats.
Regardless of what you want to call it, an ADU is a small house that’s on a residential property. The ADU is not the main house. It may or may not be connected to the main house.
The size of an ADU varies. At the smallest, an ADU might measure 600 square feet. Bigger ones could be 1,200 square feet or over. Considering that the average apartment is 800 square feet, you’d have as much room in an ADU as you would in a typical apartment.
An ADU is designed as its own house. It should have entry and exit doors, a living room, a bathroom (possibly more than one), and a kitchen. This way, the residents in the ADU do not have to come into the main house (or vice-versa) to use the bathroom or kitchen.
Not all ADUs are the same. As you plan where yours will go, keep the following five types of ADUs in mind.
A basement conversion ADU is one in which you don’t build anything extra on your property. Instead, you’d convert your basement into a comfortable living area. The construction work for a basement conversion ADU might entail adding flooring and insulation as well as adding doors and windows.
Converting your basement is one way to add another housing unit to your property.
Typically, to be considered a legal ADU, you will need a separate entrance, and a way to close it off from the main house. This way it can be treated as a physical separate apartment.
In the same vein as a basement conversion ADU is a garage conversion ADU. If you don’t use your garage for much else besides storage, you can remove everything in there, transfer it all to a storage unit, and repurpose the garage into its own dedicated living space.
This is very popular here in Saint Petersburg, FL, where there is a general shortage of housing due to general population growth, having lack of land to build on (the city is a peninsula), and the influx of out-of-state people moving in.
More than likely, before your garage would be considered livable, it would need work, à la the basement construction we highlighted in the paragraphs above. Both garages that are attached to the home and those that are detached are eligible for a garage conversion ADU.
Here’s another garage-related ADU option. If you have a two-story house with a single-story garage, you can add on a unit above the garage.
The last type of ADU is a detached new construction ADU. This ADU is like what we described first, as the ADU is its own mini house or apartment. The ADU is separate from the main property and would have all its own amenities to prevent crisscrossing between the properties.
If a detached ADU or an addition is right for you, it’s time to determine where it will go. Going back to what we talked about in the intro, you’d prefer to build the ADU in your backyard. You have the space there for a detached new construction ADU or perhaps an attached ADU.
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More than likely, yes. The rules surrounding the legality of ADUs vary on a state by state and even a city and town basis, so we highly recommend looking up the rules in your neck of the woods.
As a whole, though, in the United States, ADUs are viewed quite favorably. In California, laws were passed in 2017 that made it harder for the government to put restrictions on ADUs. Those laws were further amended in 2020 to relax the rules even further.
For example, per the 2020 rules in California, you can typically build an ADU or a junior accessory dwelling unit (JADU) on your property. The ADUs that are exempt from state laws can be up to 800 square feet.
In other states or cities, ADU permit rules can be a lot more restrictive. For example, even though the state of California welcomes ADUs, Los Angeles doesn’t to the same degree. According to the County of Los Angeles website, you can’t have a garage conversion ADU unless you meet residential building codes for insulation, doors, and windows.
We have to mention Hawaii as well, as they do things a little differently. Besides ADUs, Hawaii also gives you the option to build ODUs or Ohana Dwelling Units.
Implemented into Hawaii’s 1981 zoning code, ODUs were promoted to make houses more affordable, save green space in the state, and increase the number of homes available in Hawaii without the need for government subsidy.
Permits
In the states in which ADUs are embraced, permits are required less often. Many states can require you to get a permit, though. In those states, building and living in an unpermitted ADU is illegal. If you go without a permit, all sorts of bad things could happen.
If your locale requires a building permit, make sure you get one!
For instance, you might be fined, possibly thousands of dollars. In some instances, you could lose your homeowner’s insurance since building an unpermitted property is considered voiding the insurance.
The resource Accessory Dwellings has compiled all the regulations on ADU permits in cities and towns across the country, which is hugely helpful. Look for your neighborhood and see if you need a permit to build an ADU. If you do, please don’t forego one.
Zoning Laws
Another legality to concern yourself with when building an ADU is the zoning law(s) in your city or town. Zoning laws dictate whether you can build one ADU or several, what type of ADU is allowable, and the size of it.
Some zoning laws only apply to the size of your ADU while others dictate the style of ADU. Thus, you need to familiarize yourself with all the zoning laws in your city or town before you even so much as pick up a hammer to start building.
If you’re part of a homeowner’s association, the HOA will have its own set of requirements your ADU must meet before you can start building. This narrows the scope of your ADU project even further.
Development Standards
Development standards are a third legal area to concern yourself with as your ADU plans get closer to reality. A development standard is a set of criteria concerned with land use or subdivision as well as building design.
As you might have guessed, development standards are not uniform across cities, towns, and states. If the development standards in your neighborhood restrict ADUs to no more than 500 square feet (even if that is rather small for an ADU), then so be it, that’s the allowable size of your ADU.
If you can’t build an ADU longer than 75 feet, you must abide by that rule as well. Usually, there will be other specific rules on the ADU’s maximum allowable height and width.
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Double-check that your city or town doesn’t apply development standards to the size of the lot in question, as some do. In those instances, your lot must be 30 feet wide with 3,200 square feet available to be eligible for an ADU.
More Affordable Housing
It’s no secret that house prices keep increasing and increasing. This leaves a lot of people out in the cold. Perhaps they live with their parents for longer than they want, or the best they can afford is an apartment. These people aren’t spending money for something they own like they would with a mortgage. They’re only paying to rent.
ADUs are often a far more affordable proposition for people in these situations. That’s why so many ADU state legislations have passed across the U.S. The cities and towns that freely permit ADUs are facing affordable housing crises (as is much of the country), so ADUs are a suitable solution.
No Need To Buy More Land
Another perk of ADUs is that they can be built without the need to acquire more land. Land shortages are already a growing problem in the U.S., and the issue will likely snowball in the years to come.
Keep Loved Ones Close By
ADUs are also a great way to keep those you love close to you. Whether it’s your own parents who live in the ADU, your in-laws, friends, or even adult children, you’re close enough that you can spend time together, yet everyone has their privacy.
Small & (Relatively) Easy To Build
Compared to building an entire home, which takes hundreds to thousands of manhours and costs significant amounts of money, building an ADU is a lot easier to do. That’s due to the smaller, more manageable size of these dwellings.
Can Increase Your Resale Value
Can Be Very Expensive
Although building an ADU is easier since it’s a smaller dwelling, that doesn’t mean the work is cheap. Better Homes & Gardens quotes the price of a new ADU at anywhere from $30,000 to $300,000 and up. You’d need a sizable budget (and probably some financing) for an ADU!
Must Follow Rules
As the last section exemplified, ADUs are not without their laws and restrictions. In some parts of the country, the rules are more relaxed, but that’s not true of all states. If yours is a state with tight ADU rules, reading up on all the permits and development standards can be headache-inducing.
Increased Property Taxes
Since an ADU technically expands your property, adding one to your home can raise your property taxes. Deductions are available as you use the various amenities on the new property, but the deductions might not be enough to completely offset the higher taxes.
Conclusion
Building an accessory dwelling unit or ADU on your property is usually allowable, and that goes for your backyard as well. But the rules do vary significantly based on which part of the country you reside in, so make sure to do your homework.
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