To alleviate the housing crisis in California, new laws went into effect on January 1, 2020, to make it easier for homeowners to add these additional units. ADUs were historically referred to as granny flats because they were generally built for aging parents to live with their children and maintain the privacy of their own dwelling. 

CA lawmakers’ goal of new ADU bills is to alleviate the exasperating housing shortage California has been facing for years. If 10% of homeowners added an ADU, that could amount to about 1,000,000 new units. These units are cheaper to rent and come at no cost to taxpayers. 

Six bills went into effect, let’s break them down: 

SB 13  Homeowners do not have to live in their ADU unit for a certain amount of time or create a new parking space if your property is located within half a mile from public transit. If the ADU is less than 750 square feet, impact fees will be waived.   

Contact us today at hello@gtcdesign.studio if you are interested in adding an ADU to your property.


AB 587 Specifically helps those in need of low-income housing. If a property is owned by a nonprofit corporation for the purpose of building and rehabilitating single-family or multifamily residences, then the ADU is eligible to be sold separately from the primary home to a qualified buyer. 

AB 670 and AB 671 aim to ease restrictions to incentivize affordable ADUs throughout CA. 

AB 670  Say goodbye to HOA control! Just kidding, but concerning ADU’s - HOAs no longer hold the power to prohibit an ADU to be built.   

AB 671 This bill lowers costs through government incentives for building affordable ADUs. AB 671 also requires the Department of Housing and Community Development to list existing state grants and financial incentives for operations, administrative, and other expenses in connection with building ADUs with affordable rent on their website. 

AB 881 and AB 68  These two may be the biggest game-changers in helping the housing crisis. They remove strict setback requirements and lot size requirements that previously held back many families who wanted to add another unit. The bills also allow the construction of 2 units - an ADU and JADU on the same lot.   



Schedule a call at 619 485-5546 if you have any interest in adding an ADU to your property! Our goal is to bring your vision to life while complying with ever-changing code standards and maximizing the value of your property. Whether it's to help a family member, aid the housing shortage, or create a cash-flow positive rental property - right now is the perfect time to take advantage of these new laws.