Is the answer to the housing crunch right in your own backyard?
Accessory Dwelling Units, or ADUs, are small, fully-functional secondary homes located on the same property as a main home, usually in the backyard, filling a vital need where housing has proved scant or expensive.
When the Almeda Fire tore through the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon back in 2020, it took thousands of homes with it . The result wasn't just a moonscape, but a housing crisis on top of an already-tight rental market.
Artist and contractor Jacob Fry, and his wife Elize, were spared the flames, but not the desire to help.
They had to do something, so they took out a loan to build two small rental units in their own yard. It was never about getting income, Jacob says: "It was more about the community and needing infill housing for people that had been displaced; [that] really was the main thing."
In California, at least three modest-sized units are now allowed on a single-family lot. They can't be used as short-term rentals (so, no Airbnbs). The law allows for only long-term tenants – and it's become a booming industry.
"It's had more impact than any other housing law in the last 10, 12 years," said Dana Cuff, professor of Architecture and Urban Design at UCLA, who helped push through the original legislation. According to her, there are now 82,000 building permits right now in California.