Legislation clarifies ADU requirements, speeds up permitting

Legislation that recently cleared the state Senate and Assembly clarifies some sticking points in the construction of accessory dwelling units.

The bill by Sen. Jerry McNerney, D-Pleasanton – if signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom – requires the ADUs be measured by the interior livable space, and not the exterior square footage.

The senator's office reported that counties and cities have varied in their interpretation of the Department of Housing and Community Development guidelines on ADU and junior ADU sizes.

Another part of the legislation requires planning or building divisions to respond to an applicant within 15 days to make sure the permit application is complete, with another 60 days allowed to make sure the application meets the legal requirements. The idea is to shorten the timeframe for when construction of the dwelling units can actually begin.

The state agency reports that California must build more than 2.5 million homes by 2031 to meet projected population needs, and at least 1 million of those homes need to be affordable for low- and very-low-income residents.

“California needs to build housing to help make our state more affordable. And one of the most effective ways to address our housing affordability crisis is to accelerate the construction of low-cost housing, like ADUs and junior ADUs,” McNerney said in a statement. “SB 543 will make it easier to build ADUs and JADUs and help California meet its goal of building over 2.5 million homes by 2031.”

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