The ADUs, Accessory Dwelling Units, are second units that are built on the same lot as a single-family home. The 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, effective option for adding much-needed housing in California. The state of California recognizes ADUs as one of the strategies needed to tackle the housing crisis.
The ADUs can be built as an attachment to an existing home or garage, a conversion of a garage or existing structure, a detached unit, or can exist entirely within the primary home. Many homeowners are evaluating this option so that more family members live in the same lot. Others consider it a way to formalize the extra rooms they built to generate extra income.
Even with state legislation removing policy barriers to ADU development, there are still many challenges homeowners face in the planning, permitting, and building stages of an ADU. Most of the cities are still adjusting their zoning regulations and ADUs city policies to comply with the state laws.
The certain is that ADUs are a good option for the homeowners and here are some of the benefits.
What are the benefits of ADUs?
- ADUs are an affordable type of home to construct in California because they do not require paying for land, major new infrastructure, structured parking, or elevators.
- ADUs can provide a source of income for homeowners.
- ADUs are built with cost-effective wood frame construction, which is significantly less costly than homes in new multifamily infill buildings.
- ADUs allow extended families to be near one another while maintaining privacy.
- ADUs can provide as much living space as many newly-built apartments and condominiums, and they’re suited well for couples, small families, friends, young people, and seniors.
- ADUs give homeowners the flexibility to share independent living areas with family members and others, allowing seniors to age in place as they require more care.
What are JADUs?
Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) are allowed to be created within the walls of a proposed or existing single-family residence and shall contain no more than 500 square feet. The JADUs offer additional housing options. They may share central systems, contain a basic kitchen utilizing small plug-in appliances, may share a bathroom with the primary dwelling, all to reduce development costs. JADUs present no additional stress on utility services or infrastructure because they simply repurpose existing space within the residence and do not expand the dwelling planned occupancy.
What about the permits?
In the past, local cities were been erecting barriers that make it very difficult to build ADUs, they set very high, exorbitant fees, sometimes even larger than the cost of building a unit, or require very large lot sizes to build an ADU, or tie it up in the permitting process. This new law prohibits localities from imposing lot coverage standards, floor area ratios, open space requirements, and minimum lot sizes and requires them to allow 800 square foot accessory dwelling units of least 16 feet in height with 4-foot side and rear yard setbacks to be constructed.
Also, as of January 1, 2019, homeowners who built accessory dwelling units (ADUs) without the required building permits may have the opportunity to bring their ADUs into compliance. For ADUs that were constructed without building permits, local building officials now have the option to inspect an ADU and apply the building standards that were in effect at the time the unit was constructed.
How do I start?
If you consider this as a good option, let us help you. I can estimate what are the current rents in your neighborhood, to see how much income you can bring with this investment option, and I also will provide you a list of 8 ADU builders. These builders can build the ADU onsite or place your modular ADU in your land. Most of the builders take care of the permits. So if you consider this a good investment option to evaluate give us a call or text at (323) 942-9347 or send us a message on this form. Please provide your current home address to get the best estimates for this project.
[Form id=”1″]Source:
• Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and Junior Accessory Dwelling Units (JADUs) https://www.hcd.ca.gov/policy-research/AccessoryDwellingUnits.shtml