In Truckee, California, where median home prices exceed $1.1 million, workers essential to the resort community struggle to find housing they can afford. However, despite California’s nation-leading ADU reforms and the potential for rental income, few homeowners in the small…
More Housing Options, Lower Prices: Evidence from Houston, Portland, and Auckland
Eight states have recently passed laws allowing smaller homes like duplexes and townhomes, also known as “middle housing,” in areas previously restricted to only large, expensive houses. In “Missing No More: Planners Should Harness Private Developers to Build Middle Housing,”…
How-To ADU: The Handbook
Over the past eight years, California lawmakers have adopted dozens of reforms designed to make it easier for homeowners to build Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs), which are sometimes referred to as “granny flats,” in-law units, or casitas. To help homeowners,…
The Accessory Success Story: How San Diego Builds Multi-Family ADUs
In 2016 the California state legislature passed a series of bills that broadly legalized accessory dwelling units (ADUs), sometimes known as “granny flats” or “in-law units.” These “accessory” homes – so-called because they are legally a part of the existing…
“Informal” Housing – It’s Not Just a Formality
California’s statewide accessory dwelling unit (ADU) reforms are an unambiguous housing policy win, enabling the permitting and construction of tens of thousands of new homes all across the state. However, legal ADU development is not the whole story: even with…
Small is Beautiful … and Expensive: Removing Barriers to “Middle Housing” in California
When Senate Bill 9 passed in 2021, it represented a sea-change in California state housing policy. By allowing up to four units on all single-family zoned parcels statewide, SB 9 represented a significant step toward achieving housing abundance. But some…