With all of the rules and regulations in California and elsewhere, a very frequently asked question of homeowners looking to add space to their home is “where can I place an ADU”. Essentially, an accessory dwelling unit or ADU can be built on any property that has been zoned for residential, or multifamily use.
Depending on the size of the backyard space that you have available, your ADU can be built in your backyard, your side yard, and even possibly your yard if there are no local regulations. The gist of it is that any ADU that is built needs to be on a property that already has a primary home. Unfortunately, this means you can’t build an ADU on a property and then build your primary home after. However, you do have the ability to start the process of building your ADU at the same time as starting the process of building your primary home.
Typical in order to build an ADU, you essentially need to have a minimum space requirement of twenty by thirty feet or approximately six hundred square feet. That’s a six hundred square feet minimum space requirement including setbacks. But what exactly are setbacks?
Setbacks are the minimum required space between any house or fencing that could be near your ADU. So the spacing for fencing needs to be at least four feet away from the house and it needs to be at least five. Do CA laws create incentives or challenges to adding an ADU to a property? One thing that is so nice about building an ADU is that with current state laws, you are allowed to build an ADU in any county in any city within California. This also means that homeowner associations cannot prohibit you from building an ADU on your property
That is not to say that they may have certain regulations on sizing and financings, but they essentially cannot tell you that you can’t build one. As of right now, you’re unable to build an ADU on a commercial lot. However, there are some laws that may be going into effect to change that in 2023.
Learn more about building an ADU on your property by requesting a free property analysis where an ADU expert will come to your property, measure everything out and give you a firm estimate. Contact us today!
