Regulatory Barriers Clearinghouse
Strategy-of-the-Month Club
February 2009
Built-out communities burdened with
high housing costs
are increasingly turning to Accessory
Dwelling Units
(ADUs) as an effective and inexpensive
way to expand
affordable housing options. Accessory
dwelling units -
also referred to as granny flats, accessory
apartments,
or second units - are additional living
quarters
equipped with kitchen and bathroom
facilities that are
independent of the primary dwelling
unit on single-
family lots. A publication prepared
for the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Accessory
Dwelling
Units: Case Study, examines
the history and
benefits of ADUs, and highlights six
communities that
have successfully implemented ADU ordinances.
The report identifies ADUs as an affordable
housing
option for many low- and moderate-income
residents.
Additionally, second units are less
costly to develop
than new single-family homes on separate
lots, and also
facilitate an efficient use of the
existing housing
stock and infrastructure. With detailed
descriptions of
ADU ordinances and programs adopted
by six case study
areas, the report explores various
methods of revising
existing regulations to encourage ADU
development. Each
of the study areas adopted variations
of bylaws and code
revisions that allow ADUs to be built
by right or by
special permit. Revising restrictive
zoning policies and
adopting incentive programs to encourage
ADU development
has proven advantageous to the study
areas. The report
concludes that successful ADU programs
must be flexible,
uncomplicated, include fiscal incentives,
and be
supported by public education campaigns
so as to
engender and maintain community support.
To view the report in its entirety,
please visit
https://www.huduser.gov/publications/affhsg/adu.html.
You
can also order a hard copy of the report
by calling HUD
USER at 1-800-245-2691, option 1.
We hope this information proves useful
to you in your
efforts to grow your region's affordable
housing stock.
If you have regulatory reform strategies
or resources
that you'd like to share, email us
at
rbcsubmit@huduser.gov,
call us at 1-800-245-2691 (option
4), or visit our website at www.regbarriers.org.
Feel free to forward this message to
anyone who is
working to reduce regulatory barriers
to affordable
housing.
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