APA Utah Fall Conference Speaker

ADUs: More Housing or Just More Hassle? »

In 2021, the state legislature passed a bill stipulating that in most residential zones in most municipalities, Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) that were located within a primary residential dwelling, were now permitted uses. The intent was to make up for the large deficit in dwelling units constructed over the past decade, and to provide some that would be more affordable. This action followed a national trend to address housing affordability, with mandating ADUs being viewed as easy, low-hanging fruit. So has it worked? Are there more ADUs being built and occupied in communities around the state? If not, why not? What other factors may be affecting the lack of proliferation of ADUs? Will these factors lead to more action in the upcoming legislative session? What about external ADUs? We’ll try to address these and other questions about ADUs with our panel of experts in this session.