Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) have been known by many names: granny flats, in-law units, backyard cottages, secondary units and more. No matter what you call them, ADUs are an innovative, affordable, and effective option for adding much-needed housing in California.
The fact that it’s a secondary housing unit—rather than a given structural form—is what defines an ADU.. But, when we’re learning about concepts, it’s natural to want to know what that concept looks like in the flesh. We want to visually embed the design concept in our brains as a tangible object that we can mentally reference. However, ADUs vary in their physical form quite a bit, so allow me to broaden that mental model by exposing you to the range of common ADU types, in order to better understand what they are.
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also sometimes called backyard cottages, granny flats, laneway houses, or DADUs, depending on the jurisdiction: As the name suggests these ADUS are built brand new from the ground up.
The price for a garage conversion ADU is substantially less expensive than a new detached or attached ADU. Since the garage already exists, a conversion saves money on the foundation, framing, and roofing portions of the construction project.
Garage and workshops often have ample space in the rafters for a comfortable ADU. The ADU can be added to an existing garage as a remodel or included in a new build design.
Attached ADUs, also known as addition ADUs or ‘bump-out ADUs’, People add a room (and usually a bathroom) so an extra individual could live inside the house. Attached ADUs sometimes have their own entrance, so people living there have an extra sense of privacy and increased ease of access.
One of the ways to implement an ADU on your property is to convert your basement. The basement may be currently collecting dust as a storage area, but there is much potential for space if you want to renovate it.
is created when a portion of an existing home — an entire floor, part of a floor, or an attic or basement — is partitioned off and renovated to become a separate residence.
While their structural forms vary, ADUs share some common traits and face common design and development challenges. For one thing, the fact that they’re secondary housing units on single family residentially zoned lots places ADUs into a unique category of housing. And ADUs also have some other distinguishing characteristics that help further define, differentiate, and distinguish them from other housing types.
ADUs are accessory and adjacent to a primary housing unit.
ADUs are significantly smaller than the average US house.
ADUs tend to be one of two units owned by one owner on a single family residential lot.
ADUs tend to be primarily developed asynchronously from the primary house by homeowner developers.
A large range of municipal land use and zoning regulations differentiate ADU types and styles, and dramatically affect their allowed uses
Vast numbers of informal ADUs exist compared to permitted ADUs.
These differentiating characteristics make ADUs a distinct type of housing. Till now, there has been a lack of common understanding around the language and best practices of ADU development.
This site and the book Backdoor Revolution, will help change that by providing some clarity about ADUs and how average homeowners develop them.
Generally measuring between 600 and 1,000 square feet, ADUs work well for the one and two-bedroom homes needed by today’s smaller, childless households, which now account for nearly two thirds of all households in the United States.
A guide to Accessory Dwelling Units and how they expand housing options for people of all ages. Go Here
The ADU Grant provides up to $40,000 towards pre-development and non-reoccurring closing costs associated with the construction of the ADU. Predevelopment costs include site prep, architectural designs, permits, soil tests, impact fees, property survey, and energy reports. Go Here
This guide includes model state and local legislation to encourage the development of accessory dwelling units (ADUs). It includes extensive commentary, explaining the rationale for model provisions and the justifications for avoiding certain common practices, such as owner-occupancy restrictions and discretionary reviews and use permits. It serves as an update to earlier models published under the same title in 2000.
It presents two versions of a model state act: (1) an “optimal” act that limits the authority of local governmens to prohibit ADUs and (2) a “minimal” act that explicitly authorizes local governments to permit ADUs.
The model local ordinance includes seven major sections:
homeowners a step-by-step guide to building an Auxiliary Dwelling Unit or a Tandem House on a residential lot. An ADU (also known as a granny flat, carriage house, cottage, in-law apartment, home office, or rental property) or Tandem House can capitalize on the increasing demand for single-family homes, by allowing more residents to live on a single-family lot at a reasonable price.
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