It's quite infuriating when you realize there isn't a single housing issue in this country that happened by chance. It's all by design. The game is rigged.
@@mjr2451 An unintentional consequence can be intentionally corrected...and yet these issues persist with zero to very little progress being made. We spend billions in foreign aid and yet domestically, affordable housing issues end up in a sea of red tape. Not all of us have the luxury of being gullible enough to believe that these issues are unintentional...especially when there is actual evidence that says otherwise.
I just hope that the housing crunch will make city planners and governments realize that they should have burned their zoning books a long time ago. It's so very common here in North America to just add more stuff to existing zoning regulations without stringently reviewing existing rules to make sure they still make sense. I sincerely advise anyone who's interested in zoning and city planning to read Alain Bertaud, a superb architect and one of the very few who actually understand basic economics.
Well if the regulations weren't ridiculously complicated, they wouldn't need as many bureaucrats. It's all part of their evil plan. I don't understand why the government thinks it should be able to regulate what I do with my own property in the first place so long as it isn't directly affecting my neighbors!
I find your comment interesting. I'm in South Africa, and practice as an architectural draftsman. Still studying g for higher category architectural work. I always wonder how regulations apply in other countries. You mentioned that planners and government should burn their zoning books. Here in South Africa, I feel building inspectors should burn their regulation and building record books, because of corruption. I do however feel that there's merit is some zoning regs, due to over population and it contributes to heavy traffic and pollution. People who can afford to buy land elsewhere are tied to living up to the Jones by buying expensive cars and living lavishly. Things that are short term enjoyment.
@@planitdesigns6192 Bertaud actually helped in implementing the massive public housing plan in Joburg. There is an entire chapter on the pros and cons of South Africa's public housing. Long story short: public housing units were able to house a lot of low-income families, but because of regulations that forced all units to have the same floor plans and areas, they are basically all in the farthest extent from the city's centers because lands are cheap there. This is really bad because poor people are often the most mobility-disadvantaged, and I believe "normal" commuting in Joburg can be as long as 1hr30 to 2hr.
not gonna happen when speculators run the real estate market. You need to have more PERMENANT residents and less people cycling houses like fucking clothes
@@BlueBD Urban economics shows that the more housing is built through relaxing zoning codes, or using a pyramid system like in Japan and Taiwan, the less investors will use housing as an investment asset, since prices are lower and less attractive than other investments. It seems paradoxical, but look at all markets that have high turnover rates, they're those with very low new houses and very restricted zoning, like Vancouver, Auckland, the UK, the US, Hong Kong...
I've been considering an ADU for my mother. She's getting older but still wants to live independently. She currently lives across town which it too far to travel in an emergency. An ADU will put her close enough that I can get to her quickly, but still allow her to retain her independence.
Build her a underground studio /bunker cheap , not a eye sore stays same temperature in summer and winter and you can put a soccer field on top of build right
@@leonardoisidoro3224 I can't tell if this is a joke, but I'm sure you would love to be told when you're old and grey that your kids want you to live in a bunker under a soccer field.
My father and I have brittle bones. So we could have family close, he turned her shed into a one bedroom apt....then they added to it to make it a house. As a kid I loved it! I always just walked to Nana's house when my parents made me mad.
@@LegoGirl1990 Having lived completely by myself, in a tiny house on my mom's property, and in the same house as my family... I'll take the tinyhouse/ADU any day. Its all the benefits of living by myself, except way more affordable, and I actually get to see the people I care about. I only hated my family members when we had to share walls, bathrooms, and kitchen space. I've found it helped everyone learn how boundaries worked when we had our own adjacent living spaces, rather than one giant shared one.
Multigenerational housing is very common in many parts of the world. The ability to share makes things more affordable, but it also takes compromises that not everyone is able to make.
In Japan, where I live, houses decrease in value like any other purchase. Land retains its value, but because houses are less of an investment, there's less incentive to prevent changes to the neighborhoods. In some ways this is great, like the many mixed-use and mixed income neighborhoods. In my neighborhood there are multi-family units, apartments ranging from $300-$1200 a month, and lots of single-family homes from the quite modest to extravagant.
Japan also has some crazy flexible building code, zoning and such. Super super useful and we're starting to see it more over here. Houses should never have been turned into an investment - thats how New Zealand lost most of its native home owners
Japan is run around building of things. Even in ancient times, the merchant class was at the bottom of the hierarchy. Look at USA, nation of bankers and finance, everything is about making money now--people can't afford even a small condo anymore because the investment banks have bought up all the land. I've been to Japan and my friends there that are middle class can afford to have children and everything. Its like a lost dream that we have lost with the current state of affairs in USA.
I'm from a college town and we are redoing our zoning to allows for accessory dwelling. The smart caveat is that the owner must live in the ADU for at least half of any year they rent out the main house and can't ever rent out the ADU. This helps prevent corporate landlords from hording up properties.
Wait, you mean on the lot or in the ADU specifically? I definitely like this as having local landlords really seems to be better than having corporate ones.
Living 6 months in the unit is too long (to me) but definitely 2 months so they get a feel YEARLY for what needs to be fixed, etc. AND the problem is that if I were to rent out an ADU I would want to live there for a long time. I’d be displaced yearly. This seems like overkill. Corporations DO screw over people but sometimes “we” end up cutting off our noses to spite our faces with “our” solutions. Come on, people! The answer is HOLD INDIVIDUALS ACCOUNTABLE for their properties. Let them do what they want with proper zoning, easy to obtain inexpensive permitting, proof of insurance and rental agreements. Don’t be foolish. Short term renters don’t usually know a lot of people and don’t have parties. Everything is IT DEPENDS so it’s really an oversight thing. And this is why MORE GOVERNMENT, when working WITH people to assist them with their long term goals to maintain their property, neighborhood, city and state is a win/win. ;)
This is what was done where I lived and building in back yards was allowed too. After the waiting period, corporations buy up a lot of it, and it becomes a neighborhood of high-density rentals, lots drugs, traffic, rolling blackouts, infrastructure problems, car accidents and illnesses are spread very quickly... measles, flu, COVID-19, etc. I thought it was a good idea too, until I watched the city I once loved become nearly unlivable. The crime, gang problems we had never had and so on became an issue, we left and moved to a farm on 40+ acres. We didn't get as sick all the time, schools had far more manageable class sizes, drugs weren't a thing, car accidents weren't a daily event, people were less stressed and generally nicer, we didn't have the plumbing problems, and we could relax. I hope people who think this is a good idea go take a look at cities where this has been done before they decide to do this is their own neighborhood. It's certainly not what it's cracked up to be. The trash and especially syringes everywhere should be enough to wake at least some people up. After living through this experiment, at least an acre per home seems about right. For families, a minimum of 3 acres seems about right for neighborhoods. The 40 acre home seemed like a bit much, but an acre per person is about right for a healthy city. People need plants and space around them to be healthy, to absorb CO², to keep germs from easily transmitting and lowering the viral and bacterial loads in transmittable diseases.
I live in suburban New York (Suffolk County to be exact). The dirty little secret is that many homes here have converted basements, attics and garages into illegal apartments or rooms. Because the various townships refuse to make these variances legal, and the number of construction of apartments are limited. Rental rates are ridiculously expensive, forcing many to leave the area. By allowing these these little homes would go along way in solving the severe housing crisis.
Long Island is one of the worst places in the country when it comes to allowing new housing to meet supply :( Westchester isn’t great either, and NYC itself has a weirdly skeptical attitude towards upzonings. NJ picks up a lot of the slack, but yeah, we need better rules in Nassau and Suffolk.
@@neckenwiler This especially true with the Fairfield Organization buying up (or managing) every block of apartments and slapping the word “Luxury” all over the place.
I live in Nassau and we have the same thing. The only apartments being made are for seniors, so if you're looking for something that's basically your best bet. A basement for like $1500 a month, and you live in Suffolk where there's space to move around, here we have walkable neighborhoods which is nice for that but it means there's a million cars parked on the sides of the street and you can barely move. I feel like Duplexes would serve the same purpose only better in function, but all we see is overpriced condos being built. god forbid you can't afford the inflated prices or a house, or even just live alone, don't have kids or don't feel like taking care of a huge lawn and property
I come from South Africa. Granny flat are extremely common here! It's strange to think they are illegal in the US. I'd say that 80% of middle class homes have one or more annexes that they rent out to students, single people or elders relatives. In lower class homes its common to rent Wendy houses or even garages to people on your property.
In law units are often allowed in the US and Canada but often can't get different meters and post box and more. So they can't be rented out to somebody that isn't family legally. In Canada you have sometimes homes with 5 bedroom/3 bath (washrooms in Canada) + 2 bedroom /2 baths in law units. Those homes are gigantic and expensive.
@@nibirue They are banded in most communities poor or rich in north America (started in Vancouver Canada, 1920s so your home is before the bans). Which is dumb... I agree in part with you if it were only in uppity places it wouldn't be as much of a problem.
@@mementomori1022 That's not true lol. It was always about money. Never safety. Very few laws are in place for safety... even traffic laws are put in place for money not safety.
This is actually surprising to see as someone who emigrated to the U.S. from Latin America. Back in my country of origin, these types of housing are not only common, they are almost the norm for a lot of people. They are quite affordable and usually house young folks who are just moving out on their own for the first time. It is stricking to see how regulation has been designed in the U.S. to promote a specific quota only benefiting people within a certain demographic/income. Thank you for sharing this!
@@juaecheverria0 In my City, 20K sqft is a standard city lot, allows for garden and animal pens, (flood irrigated properties) with alley access. Developers subdivide into three-6500 sqft lots, sell the water rights, now higher density or put up to 7 story apartments putting houses into the "shadows". Could pass a "greening law" "Cannot put a house on land that did not have a house before" No more building on virgin land.
@@aolvaar8792 why would we pass a law that states that no houses can be made where there are no houses before. How would thag help any homeless and poor who need houses for themselves? Thats the thing. Y'all love passing legislation "for our safety" but completely disregard what itd do to the poor americans. Then you'll complain about hoe the govt isnt putting laws to protect them which was what put them in this situation in the first place. How bout this, abolish these housing regulations to begin.
When I moved to Florida and was looking for a house, I told the realtor NO HOAs and NO Deed restrictions. She laughed at me. After I "noped" the fifth house in a row, she started taking me seriously. My lot is not only not part of an HOA and has no deed restrictions (a fascist policy), it is considered multi-family, so I can add whatever extra housing I desire. If people stop buying them, they'll have no choice but to let people do what they want with their property.
Always found the idea & sheer widespread existence of HOAs in the USA as a brit to be wild. Most you'd get in the UK is maybe some old school folks from the local care home going around nitpicking cause they've got nothing better to do. We have protected status for things in the UK, other than most councils encourage extensions etc which are super common in the UK. Idea of owning freehold land & then paying monthly fees to a HOA is nuts, nvm the restrictions.
I live in a very nice Coach house in Chicago. I used to be homeless for a while before moving in and extremely greatful these exist because my landlord didn't care or ask about my credit score. I am greatful Chicago legalized these 70 years ago or else I'd probably still be homeless.
@@Mrhalligan39 - Exactly THIS! And this is the case in some.ither cities ad well. Maybe citizens or the local governments should invest in rebuilding those areas, hence expanding dwelling options.
@@justmeiniowa Only talking points you regurgitate. There are plenty of real estate investments and developments in Chicago. People with more money than you.
@@Frank71 Yes, Frank, and they are avoiding the South Side like the plague. They’re going to fiiish driving everyone out of Pilsen and Humboldt Park first.
I'm in local government, in my country, we call these Kangaroo Dwellings if I'm not mistaken. While I support this concept as executed here by the architect couple, let me just say this to anyone considering constructing such a thing: Please be responsible with the exterior design. Make - an attempt - to have your new addition fit in with the adjacent and surrounding developments. It does not take many bad eye-sore examples for nimbies to be able to shoot down a tentative liberalization such as this one, trust me.
I think that the housing crisis has better answers than this. Zillow being forced to relist properties at fair market value before their price hike across country would be ideal. People in the middleclass may be able to afford a house again if companies don't stranglehold the market like prior to the last housing crisis.
@@jdsd744 Yes, that would certainly help, if it were possible to do such a thing without screwing over working and middle class families by intervening in such a way; You'd be popping a massive bubble in the housing market. Something similar happened in 2008 and the effects of that event rippled out across western economies, resulting in what's often referred to as the Great Recession. Making housing cheaper isn't going to be of any benefit to ordinary people, if they lose their source of income in the process. Personally, I think Accessory Dwelling Units as seen in the video will help. They're by no means a full solution, but having more of them would at least gradually increase the supply of housing, making living space less appealing as a speculative investment.
@@jacobframe8769 Yeah, I know. I've experienced the housing crisis first hand. As far as I'm concerned "I don't like how it looks" is an absolutely asinine objection to raise in response to any initiative that would help resolve the crisis... But that's just _my opinion_ as a single balding 32 year old dude on a single town council... Untill young people miraculously start showing up en masse to city council meetings (...lol) across the west to tell the suburban NIMBY homeowners to go bork themselves: Our best bet as people trying to solve the housing crisis, is to work around the NIMBY's absurd self-centered gatekeeping and hair trigger outrage-reflex. I hate it, but I can't see another way.
When we replaced our garage in 2005, we had it enlarged to include a 10'x20' work space. I labeled is "Studio" meaning a art/work studio. Our city plan check had a fit thinking we wanted to add a studio apartment, what today we would call an ADU, and read us the Riot Act like we were doing something totally illegal. I had to relabel it "workshop" to get around it. Today they are still openly hostile to the idea and have had to forced by court order to loosen the red tape they have wrapped the initiative in.
@@shadowrealm6 because a woman would more likely call it a studio/work studio and a man would more likely call it the workshop. Or a man might call it a den and woman might call it a study. There are differences in Vernacular based on sex, to say there are differences isn’t sexist.
Having lived in a university town with a lot of basement apartments, parking becomes a disaster. When each small lot has 4-5 cars, there simply isn’t enough driveway and street parking. Getting mail is also hugely difficult
Depends on the city I guess, you see this a lot in the UK too where 2nd/3rd year university students take up a lot of these, but thankfully here in most cities most students/young professionals don't drive. Even then most these places have resident only parking which wouldnt' apply to many of these add-ons, it works pretty well. You yanks sadly rely on cars way too much
I realize there are 1000 reasons why people would or would not want an ADU in their yard. But in my neighborhood people already have multi families living in their home and there’s no place to park on the street anymore. I am constantly dealing with people partially blocking my driveway because they’re trying to fit their long truck into a small space because they are desperate. Traffic has increased exponentially and it is no longer a quiet place to live. Personally I think it’s affecting lower income area’s. You’re not gonna find them in places like Beverly Hills.
My mother's in her 40s and has never lived on her own before, and at this point she probably can't, not without assistance. An ADU was exactly what I had in mind without even realizing the term or controversy over it, because I want to be able to help care for her as she gets older. Hopefully my S/O and I won't have issues with this in the future.
Old ladies cannot climb stairs. But at least she's RELATED to you, so she won't need to ADD ANOTHER CAR to your non-walkable neighborhood. So I'm OK with the "granny flat" idea but not with the reality of amateur landlords squeezing renters into a neighborhood designed for SFRs.
@@johnbecich9540You're right to be worried about cars, our society must make war against them. A lot of people who might rent an ADU can get around with rideshare, taxi, mass transit, or an ebike/bike. Bike lanes are a lot cheaper than more car lanes. So let's not worry about owner/landlords as much as Wall Street ownership. Cars are more expensive now than ever and not getting cheaper. Cities ought to legalize & normalize more smaller electric vehicles. A family could ditch a second car for a UTV sized vehicle that could pull into a backyard and fit in a shed. Velomobiles (covered bikes) are becoming more common. Real alternatives to cars that can go through rain & snow are out there.
AirBnB is literally in the process of failing currently. They've been a detriment to the nation on the whole and they're finally getting what they deserve. I suspect it's on its way out as it's come to be known for its many downsides including the overwhelmingly greedy and lazy property owners who use it.
I live in a grandmother flat! I'm in Upstate NY, a pretty rural area. It was wonderful to go from a walkup where I had to haul all my groceries and stuff up a fairly steep alleyway and then old rickety stairs, AND take all my laundry to my mom's house to having a nice, single floor little house of my own, with a laundry room included. My landlords are really chill, and the whole property has been in their family for decades now.
Many of the older homes in our neighborhood have "Casitas" in back. We currently share ours with a family member, but it's also nice economic security since in a pinch we could squeeze the family into the house and rent the back.
My Grandparents owned a house in Chicago that had a Coach House on the back that had two small units. Very affordable (even in the 50's through the early 90's) and always interesting people that lived there.
In the UK we have had these types of houses for a while. We call them Granny Annex. As it sounds, they are for elderly relatives to move closer but not right into your home.
Yeah! When I look on Rightmove at these houses with Granny flats or Granny Annex's, you can tell they are for elderly relatives because of the various mobility aids. I think most families would rather house their elderly relatives in these than a care home
Yep, used to work at a council part time at uni & these were always super common, seems to vary by where you live but some communities use these all the time along with usual extensions. Asians for example rarely put the elderly in care homes so these were common, even courgared by the council due to sheer pressure on care services as it was. Elderly care would collapse in some areas without these, especially since 2010 with the tories, hasn't been gutted like most things but it never kept pace with rising elderly population.
I always felt that stigma around mobile homes hindered a great housing opportunity and if they were designed like these coach houses it could change the direction of houseing im my opinion
@@MisatoIto not anymore. They come built with standard lumber and depending on construction can have a stem wall foundation. They have improved dramatically along with their price unfortunately. They are hard to tell apart these days unlike the old tin cans
@@MisatoIto `Mobile Home` is such a blanket term these days. It honestly covers everything from things that are actually mobile (trailers) to modular homes delivered on trailers to a lot. I think the term has inherent issues in it's colloquial use.
@@GonzoDonzo you are absolutely correct. They are built better; however, the comment you responded too is also correct about the homes being stigmatized.
@@electrojag1 yeah its relevant for stuff built pre 90's but they are very different these days. Unfortunately i think they have priced themselves out of their own market. We were recently looking at some for my mother and in our county it was going to cost almost 300k to put the modular on the property. Now a third was permits but thats still almost 200k for the home. Its cheaper for us to just build a real home so thats the route were going.
So, here's my take on this topic, and it's important to understand that I don't have a horse in the race. In my long adult life, I've never owned or lived in a single family home. I neither have a NIMBY attitude toward preserving specific "character" above all else, and I also don't fault people who find themselves living in car dependent suburbia. I understand that decades of policy shaped how the majority of Americans live today in these car dependent places. While ADUs might be fine in small and midsized cities without traffic issues, putting more car dependent housing in car dependent contexts doesn't solve for congestion issues in larger fast growing metros that are often decades and decades away from real transit solutions beyond the car for the majority. I can easily see ADUs being encouraged within specific walksheds or as part of a strategy to create walkable neighborhoods. In those instances, I can see their immense value to the community. However, if there is no real opportunity to fundamentally transform car dependent suburban areas, I remain skeptical. I'd rather see our governments look for holistic solutions for more housing that gets people out of their cars for at least some of their daily/weekly activities, and not ones based on how they primarily financially benefit individual homeowners who want ADUs behind their houses in their 0 walkscore cul-de-sacs.
This is exactly my view as well. So many people seem to focus on how it is good for the owner to have an ADU instead of their functionality with the rest of the city infrastructure. In the city I go to school in there are TONS of ADUs but the city is literally not built for the density of it. There are so many more people living in the neighborhoods, but no real public transit or walkability, everyone drives. THE ROADS ARE CONSTANTLY PACKED AND BUSY, its just constant drivers getting into crashes.
Well if adu rub you the wrong way , rezoning would help. Allow people to build small shops and commercial business on their property it would help alleviate the issue , hell even building small transportation infrastructure would help
@@joestein6603 none of your suggestions are small...and come from a place of ignorance. I agree with the op. As a person in a city with these allowed in certain instances, its not as if I look at them askance- they can be nice and look nice- THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE HOWEVER. Infrastructure for the density of population is needed, and if its not present, repairs and costs go up astronomically. A system overly built and largely robust will have fewer maintenance issues that are 'big deals'. Due to the car density problem here, even with many busses and dozens of miles of bike lanes, it can take ridiculous amounts of time to get anywhere. Pizza (and other similar fast eatery delivery) places no longer deliver under an hour, even if your are very nearby. They are simply incapable due to the traffic. The minimum is always quoted at 75 to 90 minutes, and this is often not long enough. Our buses can only run on schedule when the car traffic is under control- and it is not, so those on public transport are even more burdened.
@@jdsd744 so your solution is to complain , I gave some ways of alleviating the issue . A robust public transportation is needed yes but I also suggest rezoning so small commercial shops can pop up on the block , if you allow people more options they would take whatever is easier and building a shop or too would help with traffic. Because people would walk if a store is across the street. I'm sure somebody said" every journey begins with a single step" you don't start you don't see progress , by doing nothing start small you can carpooling , taking public transportation, voting, educating people in the area that hey if we invest in this public transportation you would have less traffic. You can even join city council if you feel strongly enough and can do a better job than the politicians in charge but to comment on TH-cam with a stranger ain't gonna help you or your city. Good day sir
Are there Rent Control issues? It is easier to get a divorce with kids than it is to get rid of a tenant that has rent control. Rent control does not work but politicians love to cater to entitlement thinking. Can you blame landlords for wanting to have control over their own property? It is so easy to think anyone that owns a home, let alone a rental is wealthy.
because if you actually rent it out for extended periods your getting the shit end of the stick, because the government protects the tenant instead of the owner of the actual property. Rent control, rent payment moratoriums, no right to evict.
Airbnb has completely wiped out long term rentals in my area. It's a small town, housing has always been a challenge, but now it's a popular vacation destination and almost all the ADU's are Airbnb's. Then when you do find a rental, the owners often act like they are doing charity work for charging 2k a month instead of 5k.
The thing that frustrates me about ADUs and illegal apartments in attics/basements is that this is proof that people don't need the massive houses being built today. Build smaller stuff that people actually need! 4-6 story walkups would be hugely popular!
While true, its good to have ones own space so ADUs or any number of terms work quite well too esp if you live in an area with really high buy in costs. Modern houses are far too big, what should be happening is people build smaller custom units that fit what they themselves need - the attitude IS changing but not fast enough honestly
We have something similar in Sweden, Attefallshus. They need to reach less than 13 1/8 feet tall and not cover more than 329 square feet of ground, and not be less than 15 feet from the edge of the plot. Usually built with a sleeping loft, but adding a full basement is perfectly legal.
Much better than the 3’ these folks left next to the fence line…where they plan to install “shrubs someday”. I’d hate to live next to a giant eyesore box when I bought a home with park frontage. No wonder the fence is 9’!
@@r8chllettersWould you really rather have less housing than maybe one or two odd-looking houses? Who cares if it's close to the lot line. Be lucky you even have a home, with so many folks going homeless, even while working full time. Huge setbacks disqualify most properties from even *trying* to build an ADU. I actually think the ADU featured in this video *is* ugly, but many of the pre-designed ones that were shown were very nice. I'd just as soon see cities adopt standardized designs that go along with existing neighborhood architecture, to quell concerns such as yours, and then go easier on setbacks and lot size requirements.
@@Nphen it’s one thing to buy into a neighborhood that is in high density development and another to have your backyard become a viewing site by giant buildings that basically eat the entire lot footprint…and take away privacy and quiet and change your home value. I’d rather see us covert golf courses into homes and make houses price capped so everyone can afford a 5-year mortgage for 25% of earnings. But to ruin current neighborhoods whose footprint is already small is really sad.
This thing of building houses in the backyard is pretty common here in Costa Rica to the point there are blocks without a single piece of empty land, and from experience I can tell there are worse issues than diminishing property value or increasing traffic. To me the most troublesome aspects of this are the difficulty to access a property in case of emergency, less room between housing units can create frictions because of the noise, getting rain water out of the property gets more difficult and water from one house can leak into the other very easily (especially if the lots aren't flat), privacy gets compromised and it just cluttered and messy.
@@evannibbe9375 no that's the problem when you build something that's not up to code and/or build it like crap. Steps and requirements are done to account for the weather. Not just for redirecting rain somewhere appropriate but for making sure the water doesn't compromise the longevity of the house. Flashing, gutters, tarpaper, ventilation, insulation, siding, etc. Their purpose is not simply to make the house look good but to offer an impressive level of protection against the elements and have it last for years to come. When people ignore code or disregard detals like that as needless you end up with structures that end up breaking down and needing more maintenance.
This works on small lots where there is central water and sewer. Parcells that have septics - if allowed to build, the septic mound/field would have to be doubled. Easily a 20 grand extra cost.
In California we are limited by the department of environmental health to .45 acre per detached structure to install a septic system. So while the ADU process is simple, if you have any less than .9 acres and are on septic, than you cannot build a permittable ADU. Even if you have an acre+ lot, some times you have to instal a advanced system that cost 3-5x and requires a recurring inspection fee for the life of the system. 20k for this type of system would never happen, if these restriction eased up just a hair, than a septic system can be installed for about 10k.
I have an ADU on 13 rural acres. 2 septics. Built both houses myself. Each septic was 3k installed by contractor. Both share water from the same well and electric from the same meter. It’s not that big of an issue
@@wrileys 100% of the county lots in my county with are .5 acre or bigger us septic. I know county is different but in Nevada almost all communities are “county” lots
As the one who assigns addresses for new ADUs in my City in California I can attest they have increased greatly in the last few years. Often garages are converted or grass areas covered with the new ADU to the extent there is hardly any yard or parking left for tenants. If someone wants a place for elderly relatives to live semi-independently near them, then I am all for that. Most of these seem to be attempts by owners to cash in and double rental income while leaving new and old tenants living in cramped conditions with little yard or parking.
Yes, the dwelling itself doesn't necessarily have to impact the sightline beauty of a suburb, but with more people comes more noise, more likeliness for the increase of tensions between neighbors as people are literally living in peoples backyards, and then there is the impact to the street scape in other ways, such as parked cars (I don't see a garage, car port or driveway being a requirement for these as are often the rules for typical dwellings in suburbia.) Whilst also not necessarily a rule, people who are in ultra low/low cost housing such as these types of dwellings, are typically, both literally and metaphorically, less invested in the suburb (these are not always seen as forever homes) which can have a measurable impact on a suburbs security and amenity. At the same time there is a housing crisis, and clearly we need more affordable housing. Here in Australia we have 'Hammerhead' blocks springing up everywhere which is a way to keep the existing house at the front of a block, and subdivide the back yard to put another traditionally full size house on the back. This comes at the consequence of not having a large back yard, but in todays time poor society anyway not everyone has time to maintain such a back yard. Instead, local councils are moving to ensure there are public open spaces instead which are maintained by the council services that can be used for the kids or for picnics, or other sports. Its another interesting solution to the problem that is in a lot of ways similar to this, and in others, completely different.
In Western/Central Sydney these granny flats are pretty common but almost always hated for a few reasons. Usually a renter is living in the property when the home owner decides to build a granny flat in the backyard and the renter has no say on whether they want this construction since it isn't their property. Almost all cases of a single dwelling with a granny flat are occupied both by renters. These granny flats have not reduced the rental cost in the area either, rent in my areas has been increasing each year even with the added granny flat constructions. Nowadays granny flat rent per week is almost the same price as a single dwelling without a granny flat. The most common reasons home owners construct granny flats is always monetary objectives, with the increase of rental prices at the cost of minimising space its no wonder these dwellings are looked down upon.
These things suck. They over crowd neighborhoods, are cheaply built and create parking havoc. Also they don’t fix the problem (not enough affordable homes for sale). Exurban building would fix that problem but instead of building 8,000 new tract homes in bumble fuck nowhere they think adding 18 ADUs to a street is going to “fix housing”. It’s not it just crowds up the place and makes life worse there
They also reduce the number of trees in suburbs, reduce privacy and amenity, and increase the cost of managing services for local governments (think about the additional garbage to be collected on suburban streets not designed for these densities - larger trucks are required but often small local roads and cul de sacs can’t accomodate them, so more smaller trucks are required doing more kms less efficiently). The notion that they are unequivocally positive and crucial to improving affordability is a con. They benefit landowners and developers and in Sydney, are simple reducing the amenity in many neighbourhoods and increasing the gap between rich and poor. They certainly have a role to play, but careful planning is required and the recent Medium Denisty Housing SEPP, rebranded the Housing Diversity SEPP, is not careful - it’s a sledgehammer where a scalpel is required.
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se Agreed especially when these granny flats are built in an urban sprawl area where you need to drive for basic amenities further minimising space with added vehicles. Its a band-aid solution that doesn't even bring down housing cost to begin with since it only profits the home owners who don't even live in the main dwelling to start with.
The thing with density is until critical mass is hit, the density will repeatably allow for twice as much income. I think the happy medium of density is three story multi-family homes.
Portland, Oregon requires that the homeowners must live in one of the buildings on their property, if they are to have an ADU. It maintains the “neighborhood character” and prevents the property values from dropping.
One of the homes near me has been constructing an ADU. Sometimes I walk my dog by it to see how it’s coming along. I think it’s a good idea. Better than spreading out over the rich farmland my area has.
As one of the participants in Houston's ADU program, I definitely think that they provide an opportunity for cities with large amounts of single-family home developments to increase housing density and diversity! Here in Houston, I do hope that the ADU program gains traction, as too many single-family lots are being redeveloped into multiple, identical townhomes, which may increase housing density, but are creating a housing monoculture (where everything is a 3 or 4 bedroom town home!)
Kyle, Thanks for being part of the solution. You're not alone out there. Check out Casita Coalition and get involved as these are no longer just local issues. It's a national discussion that we need people from all parts of the country involved in.
both of these are non-solutions we can build much bigger on those lots and really lots should be combined to build massive apartment complexes we do not have unlimited resources to make everything look as beautiful as your american dreams but we do have the resources to make everything look "good" and work well as peoples and socialists movements across the world have proved some places should be left as small scale and historic housing we want options and variety in housing options but if you are talking about maximizing affortable housing no it will not all look like home and garden nor should it
Thank you for explaining this. Here in NY, the suburban parts were contstructed to purposefully keep minority communities out. Now they are trying to allow these accessory dwellings, which is amazing. SO many people cannot afford housing or to buy a house. Or like me, bought a house, but due to unforeseen life changes, have had difficulties ever since. I have kept the house thanks to help from NYS, but it would be great to have the extra income as a baseline to help stabilize my income.
Poor people were excluded, not general minorities. If minorities were excluded than ADU neighborhoods would exist and be disproportionately White. Even then, Black people the only sizeable minority race at the time of construction who would feasibly be discriminated against.
One thing to consider is the added use of utilities like water and sewer, the neighborhood I live in has modest homes for working class people. ADUs in the backyard has been the reason the streets need to be torn up and larger underground infrastructure added to accomodate them. So, they do disrupt the landscape. Also ADUs often don't include parking - great if you have efficient transit options, not all cities and neighborhoods do, however. When highrises are the only other alternative, I guess ADUs are preferable though.
It is still better to add ADUs and update infrastructure than to add homes on the outskirts of cities that create more sprawl. For suburban development you have to build roads, water pipes, sewers, electrical infrastructure, sidewalks, and extend transit if even possible. It is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper to densify existing neighborhoods. ADUs also increase the tax base to fund shared amenities and infrastructure. They are really great for cities.
I've been getting more and more plans across my desk lately with ADUs. I wasn't really sure what the point was, but this video has given me a great appreciation for them
My neighbor is doing this. Except it will be an air bnb. Just like the duplex next door and a few others on the block. Rumor I've heard is air bnbs earn 2x that of long term rentals. Means the price of houses can go even higher because the return on investment still makes sense at those prices. So homes becomes less affordable while the number of long term rentals available decrease. Pretty shitty.
@@jasonheyward2873 in Georgia. My city has laws limiting the number of short term rentals on a per block basis, but the laws haven't been enforced yet so its getting out of hand. Not sure what our laws specifically on ADUs are.
Traffic is terrible, especially near the U of M campus. When you jam 40k students in the center of a small city, things get crowded. Fortunately, the university is building high-rise parking complexities. Many modest homes are over 50 years old or much older, but urban sprawl is providing larger, more modern homes, at some reasonable commute away. Dundee Mi to the south has been a commuter community for Ann Arbor workers over the last several decades. Many University's' staff educators own property in the Irish Hills area approximately a one hour drive west on US 12. This town is still one of the best areas to live in southeast Michigan.
The biggest issue regarding ADUs is parking. Having lived in the SF Bay Area for 40 years and seeing the on street parking nightmare adding additional cars is crazy. As you know, in most older California residential neighborhoods people do not park their cars in their garages adding to the on street parking problem. Perhaps ADUs work best in less dense neighborhoods with larger lots. This is not a NIMBY reaction but a reflection of the experience of living in those neighborhoods over many years.
You are 100 percent correct sir I live in a very populated and dense area in Oakland and parking has been a nightmare since my 2 neighbors renovated their garages into ADUs. So now I gotta be a Karen and call parking enforcement if a car has been there more then 72 hrs because I can't find parking anymore
Regulations are very rarely enforced where I live so this kind of construction is common. While it provides alot of benefits some of the criticisms are spot on. ADUs increase density in suburbs where people rely on cars to go anywhere. If people are leaving urban apartments to live in cheaper ADUs, they'll be contributing to traffic. Depending on the extent of renovations in the neighbourhood, this means cars all over the streets leaving little room for pedestrians or big garage frontages. They seem like a bit of a stop-gap solution to a problem that ultimately originates in demographic and economic issues.
Shhh! We're not allowed to talk about class issues on this channel. In fact, architects are such goons that they never talk about class, they don't know a damned thing about it. They are butlers for the upper class.
@@johnryskamp2943 Exactly. As someone who studied both philosophy and architecture, I can't describe this profession in any better way then "butlers for the upper class". If you extrapolate this "solution" into the future, without changing the political-economic system we are currently in, it becomes an image from sci-fi dystopian movies.
@@ZRodTW Architects, traffic engineers, city leaders, etc. DO need to be more open and blunt about classist and racist ideology - the one we are currently living in. Instead of using technology, planning, ai driven planning algorithms, all the goodies we have at our disposal, with this so called solution, we are not progressing further, rather we are regressing into the solutions of the 18th century. Wondering what's next? Upper class bourgeoisie building these objects and renting them for even more money, so much so that the renter becomes servant. I've already seen this happening during the 90s, 00s in USA, and it's being perpetuated in, for example India, for centuries - the so called "voluntary servitude". It seems to me like todays intellectuals fail to grasp the implications of these "solution", and just like greenwashing, we are washing our way into something far worse. I want to see these nimbys, like you call them, saying "no, we don't want this in our backyards" not because it will lower our property prices, but because they are inhumane solution to a humane problem. You are right about one thing, though, these people are clueless about their own ideology. But I'm afraid architects, planners, investors, politicians etc. are as well, if not worse.
@@deeZeeDee I see where you’re coming from, but I believe ADU’s can be one of the many steps we take in order to improve our neighborhoods, cities and to alleviate the housing crisis. Of course they need to be implemented along with other solutions (as someone commented here: mixed use zoning, bike lanes and better transit) but if done right it can be a step in the right direction
I grew up in a 1960s development. Single car driveway, and with four kids, we had at least three cars parked on the street. So parking density? It's not that much of a concern, especially in developments with larger lots, multicar garages, and wide driveways. (My current house can house two cars in the garage and four in the driveway.) My 1950s neighborhood has huge lots. Some could accommodate an ADU in the FRONT yard! I did wonder about adding an extra floor above the existing ranch garage, turning the garage footprint into a mini-apartment building.
In SC, a lot of people by the largest, 2 story sheds at Lowes and Home Depot and turn them into "party sheds" in the back yard so that the HOA and/or city/town/county wont bother with the homeowner. In reality, a lot of them have electricity run out there and either full plumbing or a camping toilet arrangement. It ends up becoming the dorm room for college age kids or family members down on their luck.
I live with my mom is a very small place but we are building a ADU type thing, it more like a 2 car garage with a 550sq/ft suite on top for my self to live in. One big benefit that you didn't talk about is the infrastructure upgrades. The main reason we did the project was to fix our 80 year old swear line that need to be replaced. Along with a 200 amp panel upgrade and 220 volt outlets wired up for 3-phase EV charging, along with making the lot solar ready and optimized, everything from the roof angle and extra large overhangs on the south side for the best solar adsorption. We even gained 600sq/ft of usable yard space to.
I live in San Diego - in the Hillcrest neighborhood. Much of this neighborhood and others close by were developed in the 1920s and there are many of these accessory units. One of my neighbors is adding a second and third floors to theirs - the ground floor being a garage and the other two a really gorgeous living unit. Clearly these were grandfathered in, and I’m pleasantly surprised owners are being allowed to update/expand their units.
I'd be worried that AirBnB would buy up & take over such added properties. I confess I'd be highly concerned if it happened in a neighboring plot & one of those infamous wild AirBnB situations occured. Rules for this would also have to go into localities not just laws for the physical structures.
Eliminate minimum parking requirements. This would allow car less or car light communities to be created. This would allow more apartments to be built as they are not constrained by parking. Smaller like micro apartments will be economically feasible to build. Bigger taller houses with more rooms will also be feasible as you don’t need parking for every room in the house.
@@oliversissonphone6143street parking fills up regardless. Many garages are just used as storage. Even places with plenty of off-street parking are filled with cars. There are many houses that are walking distance from transit and/or other establishments like shops and schools. People who work, study or take transit nearby may not need or have a car. There are also people who don’t need cars, people who prefer not having a car, and people who can’t drive. There are people who share vehicles or car pool. You can’t assume everybody is going to have a car that needs parking. Let the owner of the property and the renter determine that for themselves.
@@Basta11 Most people don't like public transit for good reasons. Not everyone like walking or riding bikes. There is a reason people buy cars once they can afford them.
@@studiohq It depends on the transit. Ask Singaporeans if they like their system. Ask the Dutch if they like biking. I’m not advocating forcing anybody into bikes and taking public transit btw. Simply that cars shouldn’t be forced on everybody by the law (restrictive zoning, parking requirements, car centric policies). The policies restrict freedom, exacerbates the housing shortage, promotes income inequality, bad for health mentally physically emotionally, worse for the environment, and culturally sterilizing.
This doesnt seem to be an answer for homelessness nor an alternative for high rent prices, but a response to the persiveness of empty homes due to speculation. Building another home in the back of your own is extremely common in Brazil. It is called edícula. Several low income families does that in the same lot. Here, in São Paulo, Brazil, 30% of the homes are empty. The lack of affordable homes isn't a question of lack space, it's a question of bad distribution.
I live in Ann Arbor and they're building like crazy. There are five new huge subdivisions in development within two miles of my home. The property taxes are very high in Ann Arbor, the new homes are cramed but very pricey ( starting $600K) so the city takes lots of money. But they don't built new roads so the trafic is getting more and more congested.
I live on Oahu where you basically never see this. What we have instead are these absolutely horrific 6-8 bedroom mansions going up in these very old neighborhoods where prices are very high but also most of the people there are aging locals who bought their homes back in the 60s-80s when they were affordable by middle-income families. The 'monster houses' as lots of people here call them have no yards, no grass, just a giant two-story mansion taking up nearly the entire lot with a cement parking lot for a yard, all clearly built as cheaply as possible with absolutely no regard for the neighborhoods aesthetic or sense of community. They are usually owned by banks and rented out piecemeal, like room by room, and often will have 4-8 cars in front of them. Its upsetting because, like many other states, we need affordable housing so badly here (like I can't imagine being a public school teacher in this state and trying to live here on that income), but this has to be one of the most thoughtless, ad hoc solutions possible. At the same time you will basically never see a smaller house behind a larger house here. I can't think of one at all, they're all at least connected and zoned as duplexes or multi-family.
I live in Portland, and one problem that I keep noticing is that once the original ADU builder sells their property, the value of the ADU and rental income potential is built in to the sale price. One aspect of the housing shortage isn't just a literal lack of housing--it's also the cost of that housing. Once the house has that ADU included in the price, it just makes it harder for families to afford a house, especially if they don't want to be forced to be landlords at the same time. I can't begin to tell you the number of houses for sale that have effectively abandoned ADUs or basement apartments because renting to strangers who will live 5 feet from you and that you have to collect money from is really hard. So, the overall increase in livable units is good, but it also doesn't seem to lead to increased income for the owner, or lowered rent for the renters.
@@Jack-fw4mw but if you allow subdivision then the land values skyrocket and the resulting condos aren’t affordable either. Affordability can’t be addressed on the supply side only, it’s only part of the solution , and depending on the particular example potentially only a small part. In some countries, better regulation is required so that the use of dwellings as investments needs to be disincentivised in financial and taxation systems.
I live in Silicon Valley and ADUs don't help (and sometimes makes worse) the problem with cars and parking. (I understand that Cars are a massive problem on their own, but they're a necessary part of living here). A single family home with an ADU is going to have four adults, with their four cars, living on that lot. When my parents built an ADU on their corner lot in Cupertino, they didn't have to worry about the renters being able to find street parking. Their neighbors who added and ADU to a duplex made their already awful parking situation even worse. You can tell when a small residential neighborhood has a bunch of ADUs because street parking is completely packed.
I've lived in ADU's and have had some really great experiences and some really frustrating experiences. The best one I had was nice and new, the rent was fair, the owner was friendly and never bothered me or invaded my space in any way. I also had my own fenced back yard and it was great. I've lived in others where it feels like your space is always being invaded and that sucks. Let people build ADU's and provide better housing for folks while turning a profit. There should be a stipulation though that you can't turn it into a short term vacation rental because Airbnb is seriously destroying the long term rental market in many communities.
I like this. My parents did something similar for a friend of the family that went through a divorce. They turned a garage bay into an efficiency. Put a nice bay window in. Walled it off. Built a little building off the back for the bathroom.
I can see both sides of this. In Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, I feel we have the problem of property investors trying to cram as many dwellings into a property as possible. The result is streets filled with parked cars since there's no space for them on the property. I've seen one house divided into two dwellings, with the garage turned into two additional dwellings and an additional small cabin and a caravan placed onto the lawns. Crazy.
Damn, its pretty visible even from google maps. Also, whats up with the skewed houses over there? Weird to see a house that isnt perpendicular to the street
We've been building annexes in the UK since forever. Also common now in big cities is to sell off a portion of your back garden/yard and let someone build a house on it, or build one yourself and sell it off (or move in and sell the original house). Often these are accessed via back alleys or paths between the houses.
In Southern California, many ADUs are used as AirBnB for short term rentals, especially near the beach, old town, foothill (hiking trails), or tech job hubs.
Excellent video! My city recently approved ADUs and I’ve thought to convert my detached garage. Lack of housing is one reason they’re being approved. Another, more nefarious reason is to herd people away from rural areas and into dense “smart cities” as part of the WEF’s 4th industrial revolution of tracking, tracing and controlling the population. I personally think an exodus out of cities into smaller communities is healthier for people all round.
Quite the opposite, as more dense residential areas generally come with more walkable areas, which leads to more general social interaction without it being a huge ordeal. The more sparse populated states are kinda what has led my generation, Zoomers, to be so terminally online and depressed.
The WEF plot has nothing to do with owner-occupied homes putting an ADU in the backyard, and everything to do with Wall Street firms buying up homes for mass rental. The ownership class doesn't care about density. Urban planners who want to stop seeing towns go bankrupt and want people to have good services are pushing for density. The "bad guys" want cities to go bankrupt so they can privatize water & other services and push everyone to bottled water like in Flint. Rural & small-town living can be vastly different themselves. Living near a midsize town is a lot different than deep rural that's 50 miles away from a town. The worst living style is disconnected twisty-road suburbia. A house might be over a mile from the nearest business, but still lack the peace & wilderness of a small town. ADU's would help suburban owners afford their properties, and give lower income people more options.
Vancouver legalized ADUs, or Laneway houses as they’re called here, back in 2009 to try and relieve the housing crunch we’ve been experiencing here for decades. Evidently, with huge migration west and record immigration, our province just yesterday announced that every SFH lot in the entire province (ie state) is now upzoned for up to four units to try and alleviate the growing housing crisis.
I work in local government in the planning and public works department. I, personally, like ADUs and tiny houses. I think they add character to a neighborhood, as well as, adding more housing options at different prices. A problem that ADUs and other types of infill housing have is whether or not there are enough numbers available to assign new addresses. Too often these old neighborhoods had houses that were assigned sequential numbers with no extra numbers left in between the houses. So, they were given 2, 4, 6, etc. and not 2, 10, 16, etc. This is a problem for emergency responders, elections personnel, and delivery personnel. What then occurs is that the new housing is given an address of 2A, 2B, etc. My emergency services personnel and elections personnel have told me that the addresses with A, B, C, etc. and 1/2s, 1/4s are difficult to program for them to find easily.
I transformed my detached garage as a loft for around 6000$ 10 years ago, i use to live there while I rented my house. I'm pretty sure my city would never have allowed it..
I have a second cousin (I think that's the kind) who built a area above his garage in a country area, his father lives there. But who wants to live at least a hour from shopping or a quality full needs hospital. Currently I live, myself, in a shrinking town whose access was a US highway, it's been rerouted into a bypass a mile north of the town, at least 1/3 of the towns commercial frontage has folded, and become accessory space for things like the communications company. Our grocery store has even become storage for some company. Our service stations have gone by the wayside to 5AM to 10PM convenience stores. Our population has been in steady decline, I think it's like 1.25 people per residence, and the school handles 3 towns. The communications company is a monopoly for phone, internet and cable handling 4-5 towns, our post office is box delivery only and part time retail counter. Others get mail rural route from a post office in another county. Our nearest full line grocery store is 15 miles, a mini Walmart 23, and a major town 45 with Costco and Walmart and Target.
Can anyone please answer this question. What about sewage lines? More residential means more bathrooms. I'm certainly not an engineer or architect but if every single dwelling unit gets an accessory dwelling unit won't it overflow the sewage? I'm not criticizing the concept, I'm honestly asking.
@@andrewgraziani4331 Overflow is a real possibility, yes. The sewer pipes in my neighborhood had to be replaced because of densification. Guess who got billed a special one-time charge to help pay for that?
What about letting people share the houses they have? You can own a house the size of a dairy barn in most fancy communities (Cambridge, for example), but it's against the rules to let out rooms or apartments. The same rule-makers will make the most green noise, naturally.
woohoo i have lived in my ADU for a year now, and i love it so much! we have a duplex in the front, with their two yards, and we have our duplex AUD in the back with our shared yard!! we all have dogs, and sometimes we open all the gates and combine all the yards together. it's great price wise, my dogs and i are so much happier here than a regular apartment. not to mention it's handicap friendly so my mom can visit.
Unfortunately, where I live in Northeast Arkansas in a small town. There aren’t enough zoning restrictions to prohibit willy-nilly housing being put up. The problem here people are buying sheds portable building sheds. Some yards have two and three in the backyard. Some have put up large metal sheds and then they have boats and trailers and Everything you can think of piled and stacked all around all of these portable buildings. Now there was a problem here with one lady who pulled in one of those larger storage sheds onto a piece of property in the middle of a private neighborhood or I should say all residential. And there have been a few complaints about that but they don’t have enough ordinances to do anything about it. The house across the street from me recently sold. And the people who have bought it, I’ve put up a 20‘ x 30‘ metal building for storage in the backyard which unfortunately faces the front of my house. Now I am looking at this large metal building plus a motorhome and a utility trailer all parked straight across from the front of my house. And I can’t do anything about it. Now when it comes time for me to sell my house, what am I supposed to do.?
The way things are zoned in the USA makes very little sense. We’ve got massive parking lots that are never more than 30% full, commercial units that stand empty for years, and a housing problem. I wonder how you could fix all three problems at once? Most neighborhoods are also completely un walkable, unless you live right downtown. I live in Chicago (not in the loop) and aside from a corner store, barber, and a couple bars, I can’t reasonably walk to anything.
I think are a wonderful solution. They really remind me of the mixed zoning of Tokyo. Now that ADU's are becoming more widespread the one thing that I wish we could reincorporate would be small commercial lots in neighborhoods. Such as corner coffee shops and small grocery stores.
In Australia we have tonnes of these in areas that are transitioning from suburban to urban. Usually 4 on a 1/4 acre block. They actually increase land value as it means that developers can make/ are willing to spend 4x more per a square metre of land as they can easily make more than they would if they had just built a single new home and sell it. The only downsize is that it hasn’t been great for housing affordability for families as the only affordable option is dense block style housing in an outer suburb 1.5h from the city or a small 2 bed (3 if you are really lucky to find one for an ok price in a good area)
That's not an ADU... that's subdivision. ADU's in Australia are on the same land title (not strata) and aren't allowed to have a separate address or council services- bins and water. Electricity can possibly be submetered. Until recently they also had to be occupied by a family member. The size is usually limited to 60 or 70sqms.
Those old coach houses are absolutely beautiful. And when you switch back to the new one (just after 6:10 ) it is like a slap in the face. It really hurts. So much resistance against new building could be avoided if modern architects realized how their education has destroyed their sense of beauty.
The #1 impediment to housing development is Zoning and Planning departments. It's like an HoA for an entire city or county. Someone back in the 70's decided what houses sizes, and development standards should be. But we are reforming.
The problem is parking and traffic. When housing increases, but streets and parking are not increased. The quality of life decreases in a city when this happens. Also since secondary units can only be rented and not sold, homeownership is decreased. This is happening right now in LA.
I forget the name, I think it's Iconic, but they develop beds that lower from the ceiling and office spaces that slide out from a wall, so when you aren't using these spaces, they disappear and restore the maximum size of your living space. It would seem to be the way to go, instead of permanently devoting of large percentage of the space to, say, sleeping.
The problems mentioned in this video do not exist outside of large cities, so this topic was new and interesting for me. I just bought my first home on 8/10 of an acre for 50k. Big cities try to create a perfect community by adding rules. My community has almost no rules but we’re all getting on just fine.
This can also be a suburb issue, including places with multi-acre lots (generally, expensive neighborhoods). I'm on 6 acres and we couldn't build an ADU.
My neighbor refuses to deal with rats, vermin, and woodchucks that have required me to take overly extensive precautions to kill the ones that wander into my garden or home. There's not a gap wider than a pencil eraser that's not covered by rodent proof screening outside my entire two story brick home. I use a live trap for the woodchuck so that the other wildlife isn't murdered and a bin for water large enough to drown them without opening the live trap. I used to dump them back in their hole when she wasn't home but even with the extreme smell she wouldn't do anything to deal, now they go into contractor bags for the trash man. Bad neighbors are terrible to deal with. Doubling your neighbors doubles that chance. I'm still for this for non rental properties. Grandma or your college age kid are welcome to come and stay, the last thing a neighborhood needs is more landlords.
I like the OSB and foam core, the lack of fire proof surfaces on wall and ceiling. Saves a ton of money and makes a wonderful FIRETRAP. I WONDER HOW MUCH YOU HAVE TO BRIBE THE CODE OFFICER TO PASS THIS.
ADUs seem to have an ownership issue in general, I understand that this issue also arises with apartments but I feel like people who live in ADUs may be more vulnerable to exclusion from the community and an increased feeling of impermanence (it's hard to feel your life is permanent when your house is literally an accessory to someone else's), if we want people to consider the concept of staying in dense areas we need to put some of our focus on to producing a sense that they can't just be uprooted on somebody else's whim
Having housing is a first step. Building ADUs isn't the only thing we need to do, but it theoretically shouldn't be any different to any other apartment leased from a local landlord.
I mean this is not at all the case. You are literally living in what is technically an apartment or condo (depending on if it has its own title). Secondly youre touching on renters rights and its a very tricky balance though Germany seems to have gotten this right so we need to look at what they're doing and build upon that. But that whole kettle of fish is avoided when the ADU is separately titled and subdivided but then the city has to allow access from an easement. If you have that then you have a condo that you own
That’s why we have leases. If you have a good relationship with your landlord and are a good renter they usually actually want you to stay in the adu because you live right next to them. That’s been my experience.
I live in an “ADU” in west Washington… a renovated shed, 430 sqft… $1400/month. Absolute rip off but if it weren’t for this ADU I wouldn’t have found a place to live when I really needed one. Add a bedroom and I’d be up near $2000.
It depends on the location, and surrounding density, it's a temporary solution that leads to overcrowding in residential zones. I think rezoning for multifamily dwellings is better. What do you guys think
I've lived in a neighborhood where people were allowed to build in their back yards. When many people built more homes in their back yards, the traffic became horrible (& still is). Power, water, sewer and trash became serious issues, and still is to this day in the neighborhood. Traffic there is horrific. Noise is also a problem. When it was just a few, it wasn't noticeable much, yet when most everyone built homes in their back yards, resources were strained and now there are rolling blackouts, water became a concern, sewage treatment became an issue, and crime increased significantly. Population density creates problems. Schools had to have larger classroom sizes as well. While I like the idea of some smaller homes, increasing population density isn't a good idea. When builders build homes, they need to consider infrastructure. When that isn't upgraded ahead of building, it does have an adverse impact on the neighborhood, increases home prices, and has increased health concerns and transmittability of pathogens as well (we has a mesles outbreak when I lived there, plumbing problems in the mains, parking issues, traffic is a major problem there and water has been an increasing issue. Power in the summer is also a problem, and "rolling blackouts" are a regular event in that area.) Smog is another issue, so in general, creating high-density housing is unhealthy. After watching the neighborhoods there change over about 20 years, we moved out of the city, as it simply wasn't the same place it was when my children were young. Cost of living increased as well. Yes, we have housing shortages, but building high-density housing isn't the answer. Many people left the city where we lived to move out to the country to get away from what it had become. Having a "granny flat" when there is enough land and infrastructure is great, but building in already fairly small yard (you mentioned 1/4 acre) is I'll advised. You cannot ignore the infrastructure problems, the crime problems or the other issues that crop up. I thought it was a great idea too when we first moved to that city. After watching what a high-density neighborhood it had become, it turned out to be pretty horrible over the years. Where we once had more open spaces, it attracted homeless people, increased trash everywhere, increased drugs, depression, etc. I think people need to build where there is room to build, instead of trying to put everyone in small areas. There is a LOT of land that isn't developed in America. This is where new housing needs to be built. There are also places where there are many empty homes. I cannot stress enough how high density living situations are not healthy, not physically or mentally. When we left the high density living city where we lived, we moved to a 40+ acre farm. We became much healthier. We weren't sick, we felt better and were more productive in general. When people go to college, higher density living makes sense, yet once out of a university, it's far healthier to move to a less dense area. The air is cleaner too. I hope this helps you think about it. The city we lived in once had about on average 1/2 to 2 acre yards. When people built duplexes, triplexes and secondary houses, etc. in most of the yards, it created major and very noticeable problems. After living through this, I no longer believe it is a good idea. People need space around them to thrive, and especially be emotionally and physically healthy. The plant to human ratios change as well, and not in a good way. "Sustainable Living" needs to include the air we breathe, utilities, traffic and more. I now believe every home should have at minimum a half acre - for families, at least 3 acres. High density living isn't healthy for people, is more of an accident haven, a drug haven and far more. On the surface it sounds good, but in practice, it isn't a good idea.
Frankly it seems part of the reasons these might be popular again is because companies that own and rent out lots of housing can increase the number properties they can rent without having to buy more houses or build more traditionally sized homes. If they are in fact the reason regulations are more open to ADUs now, then they won't be really solving the problem since rent will still be ridiculously expensive. Also in the suburbs they probably will overstress car dependent infrastructure, but that's nothing new that's just the weakness of car dependent infrastructure.
If it cracks open the ridiculous zoning laws and increases the total number of homes, it'll help. Even if it's done purely for profit instead of meeting the needs of the populous.
People don't build new homes out of the kindness of their own heart. It's almost always either building for themselves or building to sell to someone else. If greedy landlords double the housing supply to turn a profit, that's a good outcome.
@@nolin132 Apparently only I understand the basic math that, if rent is set to meet profit expectations and not lowered because corporations face so little proper competition these days that there is no need to, those new houses will sit empty and help nobody and nothing, and that is not a positive outcome. It's a bunch of polluting construction that can only serve a purpose after a market regulations come down hard and force those corporations to lower rent or sell property.
@@RiderOmega housing and rent is one of the most distributed and competitive markets in existence. Your assumption that housing corporations face little competition is completely false.
The problem is having two families with several kids each living on the same parcel of land and not paying much in additional property taxes, but costing the local government 150K per year to send 12 kids to school. I think its great for grandma but noway should people be able to pack in giant families and expect all the government services that come with it for no additional cost.
I think this is a great idea from what I see. The thing I see it failing at though, doesn't have to do with the type of building. I think the fear of more traffic is spot on. Unfortunately American cities weren't developed with closeness in mind. These would introduce more cars to areas that are already struggling with traffic. Like I said though, this is more of an infrastructure issue. These would work wonderfully if our infrastructure allowed for it. Regardless, I believe we need to rework how this country functions at a street level anyway so I feel like this would push us in that direction.
I understand this. Looking at this particular case looks like the adu tenants had two bicycles in the yard which might be their primary mode of transit. Also someone looking for this type of housing accommodation might have a smaller budget and by that nature be a non car owner
That’s interesting because one thing that encourages non-motorized vehicle use is increased traffic. Maybe we need a lot more ADUs so we can have decent public transportation and bike infrastructure.
What about the impact on neighbours? I would be very unhappy about being overlooked, house and garden shading and demand on parking space. Also the loss of green space provided by gardens. Also home owners can be belittled as nimbys but may have saved all their lives to afford a house with green space which is then degraded by over development.
Nobody is forcing them to build and ADU in their own green space. And if they get belittled as a NIMBY for that, its because that's literally a NIMBY position lol
Amazing video! Here in the south (and I imagine the same in the north) in the antebellum period, coach houses frequently were used to house slaves. As a result, many of them introduced small elements of African/Creole style and architecture. It's a grim thing, but amazing to see how this has turned into a really mixed cultural background for modern neighborhoods and architecture.
I'm not familiar with this, but from your description, I imagine it is a great way for people often sidelined by history to be present. I wouldn't say it's sweet, but I think it is a good thing.
@@juliemac5604 Yes this is exactly what I headed here to say! Savannah has excellent examples, and I'd love to see more and more restored and rented out!
I definitely need to look that up, even though I've lived in the South my whole life a lot of the antebellum. Homes were burned down when Sherman came through the Atlanta area so we don't have too many of those styles. Now I'm very intrigued.
My sister and her family live in an ADU in California. Apartments in her neighborhood got to be too expensive, and they opted to move to an ADU to stay in the area. It's small (about 800-900 Sq ft) but suits them for now. It's a nice building because it's very new, and she has off-street parking (part of the regulations) which some apartments in LA don't have, or don't have enough of. Not sure I would want them in my area, but I can see how they are helpful to the tenants.
All the concerns which are dismissed at beginning of the video are true. Living in a big city, it ruins a neighborhoods feel, traffic is awful, parking is difficult, renters car less have parties in otherwise quiet neighborhoods.
what we have in Perth Australia is people removing their entire back yard/garden & building a proper brick & tile home. splitting the lot in to 2 titles. so a single quarter acre (approx 1000sqm) block become two 1/8 acre (500sqm) blocks. I view as a short term fix and an easy way for a large number of more everyday folks who own such a home to strata title (split) their block & make some cash. it has fuelled a big housing boom. but what we need to stop the urban sprawl is more units & apartments
More people means that small businesses can survive, shared amenities like libraries, parks, and schools have the funds to serve the community. More people = more neighbors, more businesses, and better places to live.
my city got plagued by backyard houses, used to be a garden city, and now its filled with 2-6 house per lot units. Everything got worse, more traffic, more noise, less trees, less wildlife and more mosquitoes, more taxes (3 taxes per property) making a single bedroom house cost twice the minimum wage, and of course, the beauty of the city is gone, its just a massive horizontal appartment building now...
Here in England we call these granny flats, especially if they are connected to the main house. My cousin has lived in 2 different units, wishing to be close to her daughter. They were both well built, and fitted into the area, but internally I thought they were unliveable as they occupied strange shaped plots. I am not against such structures, but it is easy to cherry pick good examples to show the advantages. It is also possible to show structures that are future slums, that have negative effects upon an area. In the example shown we were told that the structure did not add to the impermeable parts of the site, ie no extra drives or footpaths, yet 800 square feet were covered by the structure, a sizeable reduction in permeable land. They are also an opportunity for deceit. Only this week in my city there has been a story about a home owner who got permission to build a garage on his driveway. What was built was a structure with no garage doors, but a front door and window, and topped off with dormer windows. Despite everyone saying that it's a house, the owner still claimed it was a garage, then announced that it was a garage converted into a gym. He has been ordered to demolish it. Something needs to be done about the housing crisis, but I do not think that the answer lies in the eating up of gardens.
This sounds like a terrible idea. They will kill not rejuvenate neighborhoods. Most people who want to live in the suburbs areas want more space from traffic and want to strike a balance between hard to maintain rural landscapes and bustling cities. Too many of these will stress a neighborhood's and city's infrastructure. Plots of land are perked for a certain level of resource allocation and updating current infrastructure are pretty non existent.
This reminds me of some neighborhoods in LA where they have 2 homes in their backyard. It doesn't look nice and your packed in like sardines. I say look for another option.
I've been very vocal in opposing zoning changes like this. The last thing we need is high density living sprawling across suburbia, compounding the issue of urban sprawl even further. The idea that these ADUs don't change the atmosphere of a neighborhood is a lie. Even just turning a single family house into a two unit apartment building changes the nature of a neighborhood at scale. My suburban neighborhood has cars parked all up and down the street due to the fact that all the houses are split unit apartments. Single family neighborhoods don't have this issue. Quite frankly I do not want accessable housing in my area. I like small towns and I want there to be barriers to entry for new arrivals. I am not interested in being surrounded by rental nomads who come and go. I want to live in a community of members firmly rooted in the history of the area. These measures are just one of the one latest taken to deracinate people who want to live in tight knit communities. My state has taken it upon itself to force ADUs on all towns. They're doing this to homogenize living standards of the entire state to be in line of the lowest common denominator. I'm sure land lords are excited that they can squeeze every penny out of their lot now but economoization is really not what living should be about. A cataclysmic realignment of values is needed.
There are three main objections people have to ADUs and more density in their suburban neighborhoods: 1. Two more cars per house on the street, leading to parking wars. Everyone needs a car to get to work. 2. Loss of privacy/views from two story ADUs in a one-story development. 3. Neighborhoods dominated by renters instead of owners with the resulting decline in home maintenance and quick turnover of neighbors. Personally, I object to them on principle. I want to create more homeowners, not more landlords.
Not to mention when all neighbors on all sides do this you know they will be cutting down trees. They like to pretend that this is so good for the environment. Many of these lots the only "good" space to build out have a giant old mature tree. This example only looks good in this video bc this is a.midwest town with a large student population and they are across the street from a park and have no back neighbors. Show me a real world application of this where density is actually a problem like a burb near Philly or Balitmore (no wide streets and not walkable and no clean educated college kids for occupants) and it will look horrible and ghetto with a bazillion cars and the kind of behavior that inspired HOAs. I hate HOAs. But then I see what happens when there aren't HOAs. People parking 10 broken cars in thier lawn, painting thier house black and lime green or flamingo pink, people with living room furniture rotting away on porch bc its not meant to be outdoor furniture etc) .... there should be more building of rental space (converting garages, basements, attics) and redevelop abandoned strip malld but not every cape cod community is a good candidate.
When you have too many accessory dwellings, then homeowners move out and rent out both homes. Pretty soon there isn't enough street parking. If you had a lottery so that one in ten lots can have an accessory dwelling. If everyone gets accessory dwellings, pretty soon there are noise complaints and undesirable people. We need a national policy to spread out the population to smaller and less expensive cities and reward businesses for relocating to these areas, rather than building suburbs outside the cities. Homeownership is easier where manufactured homes are allowed and land is cheap. However, we need to protect farmland and build homes on tracts of land undesirable for farming or on the sites of derelict buildings that can be torn down. Density creates. Good fences make good neighbors, as to large distances between properties.
Crippled guy here (who requires a lot of help sometimes), my family did this rather than put me in a home. I got to say, it worked out better for me for sure. There were laws against it on the books in town, but we got them changed. You know, if more people would do that and less people went to a home as a result, I mean sounds like a huge win for everyone to me. Don't agree? Come on now, just visit a home or two and you'll understand. The nursing home doesn't eat into everyone's wallet and/or inheritance, and you can keep your eye on someone without having to invite them in to your own house and having them potentially screw that all up.
I would have liked to have seen more discussion about the counter-arguments, rather than a dismissal of them outright. San Diego's poor road infrastructure and lack of public transportation is making it so that ADUs are actually causing a lot of friction in neighborhoods. As I watched this video I saw a lot of areas that look great for ADU build up, but I was waiting to see you address problems relevant to my area.
Now that there are thousands of ADUs popping up in California, people are quickly realizing it's not the end of the world and that it doesn't destroy property values in the neighborhood. Of course I'm biased! :) Can't wait to see what happens in the midwest - thanks for making the video!
My midwest town just passed zoning that bans it. We are somewhat rural and the lots are a pretty good size but they still seem to have a problem with it.
Loving the content by far you been posting Stewart!! Toronto and a neighbouring city were thinking about having "Garden suites" to combat the scare (and in some cases), unaffordability of homes. In theory it could of served as a multigenerational home for families, and it will remain as a rental unit of some sorts. Problems though as described by the video and comments here, is the issue of hydro and missuse of the land, and it will not lower rents of the area but increase it. Moreover, certain places will still see illegal builds and will ruin an image of an area in my humble opinion. Quite an interesting thought :)
Vancouver has laneway houses. They’re all over Kitsilano. I’m not sure how they’ve impacted rental prices but they sure don’t ruin the neighbourhood. I’m looking into building one in Calgary as a place for a parent to live independently and without garden and snow upkeep. I want to build it as an accessible unit so it can also increase the availability of accessible rental housing when my family member isn’t living there.
I just love how so many of the solutions to our housing problems are fought because folks want to "preserve the character" of the neighborhood. What on earth does that even mean????
It's quite infuriating when you realize there isn't a single housing issue in this country that happened by chance. It's all by design. The game is rigged.
Yes
Yes Donald everything is rigged.
Yes. There is no such thing as unintentional consequences.
@@mjr2451 An unintentional consequence can be intentionally corrected...and yet these issues persist with zero to very little progress being made. We spend billions in foreign aid and yet domestically, affordable housing issues end up in a sea of red tape. Not all of us have the luxury of being gullible enough to believe that these issues are unintentional...especially when there is actual evidence that says otherwise.
"The game is rigged"
Carlin or Wolff reference? 😀
I just hope that the housing crunch will make city planners and governments realize that they should have burned their zoning books a long time ago. It's so very common here in North America to just add more stuff to existing zoning regulations without stringently reviewing existing rules to make sure they still make sense. I sincerely advise anyone who's interested in zoning and city planning to read Alain Bertaud, a superb architect and one of the very few who actually understand basic economics.
Well if the regulations weren't ridiculously complicated, they wouldn't need as many bureaucrats. It's all part of their evil plan. I don't understand why the government thinks it should be able to regulate what I do with my own property in the first place so long as it isn't directly affecting my neighbors!
I find your comment interesting. I'm in South Africa, and practice as an architectural draftsman. Still studying g for higher category architectural work. I always wonder how regulations apply in other countries. You mentioned that planners and government should burn their zoning books. Here in South Africa, I feel building inspectors should burn their regulation and building record books, because of corruption. I do however feel that there's merit is some zoning regs, due to over population and it contributes to heavy traffic and pollution. People who can afford to buy land elsewhere are tied to living up to the Jones by buying expensive cars and living lavishly. Things that are short term enjoyment.
@@planitdesigns6192 Bertaud actually helped in implementing the massive public housing plan in Joburg. There is an entire chapter on the pros and cons of South Africa's public housing. Long story short: public housing units were able to house a lot of low-income families, but because of regulations that forced all units to have the same floor plans and areas, they are basically all in the farthest extent from the city's centers because lands are cheap there. This is really bad because poor people are often the most mobility-disadvantaged, and I believe "normal" commuting in Joburg can be as long as 1hr30 to 2hr.
not gonna happen when speculators run the real estate market. You need to have more PERMENANT residents and less people cycling houses like fucking clothes
@@BlueBD Urban economics shows that the more housing is built through relaxing zoning codes, or using a pyramid system like in Japan and Taiwan, the less investors will use housing as an investment asset, since prices are lower and less attractive than other investments. It seems paradoxical, but look at all markets that have high turnover rates, they're those with very low new houses and very restricted zoning, like Vancouver, Auckland, the UK, the US, Hong Kong...
I've been considering an ADU for my mother. She's getting older but still wants to live independently. She currently lives across town which it too far to travel in an emergency. An ADU will put her close enough that I can get to her quickly, but still allow her to retain her independence.
That's my plan with my mom, she's almost 70 and doing fine but eventually I'll have a place with an ADU for her.
Build her a underground studio /bunker cheap , not a eye sore stays same temperature in summer and winter and you can put a soccer field on top of build right
@@leonardoisidoro3224 I can't tell if this is a joke, but I'm sure you would love to be told when you're old and grey that your kids want you to live in a bunker under a soccer field.
One foot in the grave
That's what we figure we will do if any of my husband or my parents need to come live with us
I love the thought of having more family and friends live together while still enjoying their own spaces
My father and I have brittle bones. So we could have family close, he turned her shed into a one bedroom apt....then they added to it to make it a house. As a kid I loved it! I always just walked to Nana's house when my parents made me mad.
@@LegoGirl1990 Having lived completely by myself, in a tiny house on my mom's property, and in the same house as my family... I'll take the tinyhouse/ADU any day. Its all the benefits of living by myself, except way more affordable, and I actually get to see the people I care about. I only hated my family members when we had to share walls, bathrooms, and kitchen space. I've found it helped everyone learn how boundaries worked when we had our own adjacent living spaces, rather than one giant shared one.
@@LegoGirl1990 It is how we lived for most of history before being convinced to section off to lonely single family homes without our community.
Or impromptu babysitting
Multigenerational housing is very common in many parts of the world. The ability to share makes things more affordable, but it also takes compromises that not everyone is able to make.
In Japan, where I live, houses decrease in value like any other purchase. Land retains its value, but because houses are less of an investment, there's less incentive to prevent changes to the neighborhoods. In some ways this is great, like the many mixed-use and mixed income neighborhoods. In my neighborhood there are multi-family units, apartments ranging from $300-$1200 a month, and lots of single-family homes from the quite modest to extravagant.
Japan also has some crazy flexible building code, zoning and such. Super super useful and we're starting to see it more over here. Houses should never have been turned into an investment - thats how New Zealand lost most of its native home owners
⁶
Japan's population is taking a L but you don't have very much usable space to start with. This is why your housing is is getting cheaper.
@@user-ye6ty9ie8g uh huh. Care to elaborate?
Japan is run around building of things. Even in ancient times, the merchant class was at the bottom of the hierarchy. Look at USA, nation of bankers and finance, everything is about making money now--people can't afford even a small condo anymore because the investment banks have bought up all the land. I've been to Japan and my friends there that are middle class can afford to have children and everything. Its like a lost dream that we have lost with the current state of affairs in USA.
I'm from a college town and we are redoing our zoning to allows for accessory dwelling. The smart caveat is that the owner must live in the ADU for at least half of any year they rent out the main house and can't ever rent out the ADU. This helps prevent corporate landlords from hording up properties.
This is a brilliant idea. Multiple property owners have been shown to drive housing prices up significantly.
this is genius. I hope this becomes a standard practice for ADU development
Wait, you mean on the lot or in the ADU specifically? I definitely like this as having local landlords really seems to be better than having corporate ones.
Living 6 months in the unit is too long (to me) but definitely 2 months so they get a feel YEARLY for what needs to be fixed, etc.
AND the problem is that if I were to rent out an ADU I would want to live there for a long time. I’d be displaced yearly. This seems like overkill.
Corporations DO screw over people but sometimes “we” end up cutting off our noses to spite our faces with “our” solutions.
Come on, people! The answer is HOLD INDIVIDUALS ACCOUNTABLE for their properties. Let them do what they want with proper zoning, easy to obtain inexpensive permitting, proof of insurance and rental agreements.
Don’t be foolish. Short term renters don’t usually know a lot of people and don’t have parties. Everything is IT DEPENDS so it’s really an oversight thing.
And this is why MORE GOVERNMENT, when working WITH people to assist them with their long term goals to maintain their property, neighborhood, city and state is a win/win.
;)
This is what was done where I lived and building in back yards was allowed too. After the waiting period, corporations buy up a lot of it, and it becomes a neighborhood of high-density rentals, lots drugs, traffic, rolling blackouts, infrastructure problems, car accidents and illnesses are spread very quickly... measles, flu, COVID-19, etc.
I thought it was a good idea too, until I watched the city I once loved become nearly unlivable. The crime, gang problems we had never had and so on became an issue, we left and moved to a farm on 40+ acres.
We didn't get as sick all the time, schools had far more manageable class sizes, drugs weren't a thing, car accidents weren't a daily event, people were less stressed and generally nicer, we didn't have the plumbing problems, and we could relax.
I hope people who think this is a good idea go take a look at cities where this has been done before they decide to do this is their own neighborhood. It's certainly not what it's cracked up to be. The trash and especially syringes everywhere should be enough to wake at least some people up.
After living through this experiment, at least an acre per home seems about right. For families, a minimum of 3 acres seems about right for neighborhoods.
The 40 acre home seemed like a bit much, but an acre per person is about right for a healthy city.
People need plants and space around them to be healthy, to absorb CO², to keep germs from easily transmitting and lowering the viral and bacterial loads in transmittable diseases.
I live in suburban New York (Suffolk County to be exact). The dirty little secret is that many homes here have converted basements, attics and garages into illegal apartments or rooms. Because the various townships refuse to make these variances legal, and the number of construction of apartments are limited. Rental rates are ridiculously expensive, forcing many to leave the area. By allowing these these little homes would go along way in solving the severe housing crisis.
Long Island is one of the worst places in the country when it comes to allowing new housing to meet supply :( Westchester isn’t great either, and NYC itself has a weirdly skeptical attitude towards upzonings. NJ picks up a lot of the slack, but yeah, we need better rules in Nassau and Suffolk.
@@neckenwiler This especially true with the Fairfield Organization buying up (or managing) every block of apartments and slapping the word “Luxury” all over the place.
I live in Nassau and we have the same thing. The only apartments being made are for seniors, so if you're looking for something that's basically your best bet. A basement for like $1500 a month, and you live in Suffolk where there's space to move around, here we have walkable neighborhoods which is nice for that but it means there's a million cars parked on the sides of the street and you can barely move. I feel like Duplexes would serve the same purpose only better in function, but all we see is overpriced condos being built. god forbid you can't afford the inflated prices or a house, or even just live alone, don't have kids or don't feel like taking care of a huge lawn and property
Those additions might make a house a little more expensive but they provide value and space to rent out.
@@paxundpeace9970 Exactly.
I come from South Africa. Granny flat are extremely common here! It's strange to think they are illegal in the US. I'd say that 80% of middle class homes have one or more annexes that they rent out to students, single people or elders relatives. In lower class homes its common to rent Wendy houses or even garages to people on your property.
It's because wealthy people have completely ruined this country and taken away any semblance of freedoms we had.
In law units are often allowed in the US and Canada but often can't get different meters and post box and more.
So they can't be rented out to somebody that isn't family legally.
In Canada you have sometimes homes with 5 bedroom/3 bath (washrooms in Canada) + 2 bedroom /2 baths in law units.
Those homes are gigantic and expensive.
They're not illegal. Just banned in uppity places. The Coach house I live in has been around for 100 years. (I live in Chicago)
@@nibirue They are banded in most communities poor or rich in north America (started in Vancouver Canada, 1920s so your home is before the bans). Which is dumb... I agree in part with you if it were only in uppity places it wouldn't be as much of a problem.
@@mementomori1022 That's not true lol. It was always about money. Never safety. Very few laws are in place for safety... even traffic laws are put in place for money not safety.
This is actually surprising to see as someone who emigrated to the U.S. from Latin America. Back in my country of origin, these types of housing are not only common, they are almost the norm for a lot of people. They are quite affordable and usually house young folks who are just moving out on their own for the first time. It is stricking to see how regulation has been designed in the U.S. to promote a specific quota only benefiting people within a certain demographic/income. Thank you for sharing this!
Problem:
ADU is subdivided and sold for $250K as "new" lot.
@@aolvaar8792 underlying issue: over regulation for our "safety".
@@juaecheverria0
In my City, 20K sqft is a standard city lot,
allows for garden and animal pens, (flood irrigated properties) with alley access.
Developers subdivide into three-6500 sqft lots, sell the water rights, now higher density or put up to 7 story apartments
putting houses into the "shadows".
Could pass a "greening law"
"Cannot put a house on land that did not have a house before"
No more building on virgin land.
@@aolvaar8792 why would we pass a law that states that no houses can be made where there are no houses before. How would thag help any homeless and poor who need houses for themselves? Thats the thing. Y'all love passing legislation "for our safety" but completely disregard what itd do to the poor americans. Then you'll complain about hoe the govt isnt putting laws to protect them which was what put them in this situation in the first place. How bout this, abolish these housing regulations to begin.
@@juaecheverria0
???? to prevent ADUs
When I moved to Florida and was looking for a house, I told the realtor NO HOAs and NO Deed restrictions. She laughed at me. After I "noped" the fifth house in a row, she started taking me seriously.
My lot is not only not part of an HOA and has no deed restrictions (a fascist policy), it is considered multi-family, so I can add whatever extra housing I desire.
If people stop buying them, they'll have no choice but to let people do what they want with their property.
Always found the idea & sheer widespread existence of HOAs in the USA as a brit to be wild. Most you'd get in the UK is maybe some old school folks from the local care home going around nitpicking cause they've got nothing better to do. We have protected status for things in the UK, other than most councils encourage extensions etc which are super common in the UK. Idea of owning freehold land & then paying monthly fees to a HOA is nuts, nvm the restrictions.
Unfortunately most land has these restrictions and it's perfectly legal thanks to a Supreme Court ruling from a century ago
I live in a very nice Coach house in Chicago. I used to be homeless for a while before moving in and extremely greatful these exist because my landlord didn't care or ask about my credit score. I am greatful Chicago legalized these 70 years ago or else I'd probably still be homeless.
You made my point for me.
Ironically, Chicago has an absolute glut of vacant properties, they are just in the parts of the city that North Siders don’t frequent.
@@Mrhalligan39 - Exactly THIS! And this is the case in some.ither cities ad well. Maybe citizens or the local governments should invest in rebuilding those areas, hence expanding dwelling options.
@@justmeiniowa
Only talking points you regurgitate. There are plenty of real estate investments and developments in Chicago. People with more money than you.
@@Frank71 Yes, Frank, and they are avoiding the South Side like the plague. They’re going to fiiish driving everyone out of Pilsen and Humboldt Park first.
I'm in local government, in my country, we call these Kangaroo Dwellings if I'm not mistaken. While I support this concept as executed here by the architect couple, let me just say this to anyone considering constructing such a thing: Please be responsible with the exterior design. Make - an attempt - to have your new addition fit in with the adjacent and surrounding developments. It does not take many bad eye-sore examples for nimbies to be able to shoot down a tentative liberalization such as this one, trust me.
I agree!
I think that the housing crisis has better answers than this. Zillow being forced to relist properties at fair market value before their price hike across country would be ideal. People in the middleclass may be able to afford a house again if companies don't stranglehold the market like prior to the last housing crisis.
Nope, we have a housing crisis. Eye sores are acceptable given the situation.
@@jdsd744 Yes, that would certainly help, if it were possible to do such a thing without screwing over working and middle class families by intervening in such a way; You'd be popping a massive bubble in the housing market. Something similar happened in 2008 and the effects of that event rippled out across western economies, resulting in what's often referred to as the Great Recession. Making housing cheaper isn't going to be of any benefit to ordinary people, if they lose their source of income in the process.
Personally, I think Accessory Dwelling Units as seen in the video will help. They're by no means a full solution, but having more of them would at least gradually increase the supply of housing, making living space less appealing as a speculative investment.
@@jacobframe8769 Yeah, I know. I've experienced the housing crisis first hand. As far as I'm concerned "I don't like how it looks" is an absolutely asinine objection to raise in response to any initiative that would help resolve the crisis... But that's just _my opinion_ as a single balding 32 year old dude on a single town council... Untill young people miraculously start showing up en masse to city council meetings (...lol) across the west to tell the suburban NIMBY homeowners to go bork themselves: Our best bet as people trying to solve the housing crisis, is to work around the NIMBY's absurd self-centered gatekeeping and hair trigger outrage-reflex. I hate it, but I can't see another way.
When we replaced our garage in 2005, we had it enlarged to include a 10'x20' work space. I labeled is "Studio" meaning a art/work studio. Our city plan check had a fit thinking we wanted to add a studio apartment, what today we would call an ADU, and read us the Riot Act like we were doing something totally illegal. I had to relabel it "workshop" to get around it. Today they are still openly hostile to the idea and have had to forced by court order to loosen the red tape they have wrapped the initiative in.
It seems sexist...workshop seems more manly.
@@carissafisher7514 This seems... wildly irrelevant?
@@crazydragy4233 - And asinine. Don't forget asinine lol.
@@carissafisher7514 how is work shop more manly? You mean to say women don't work? You are sexist.
@@shadowrealm6 because a woman would more likely call it a studio/work studio and a man would more likely call it the workshop. Or a man might call it a den and woman might call it a study. There are differences in Vernacular based on sex, to say there are differences isn’t sexist.
Having lived in a university town with a lot of basement apartments, parking becomes a disaster. When each small lot has 4-5 cars, there simply isn’t enough driveway and street parking. Getting mail is also hugely difficult
yeah cars doo suck, we should build our cities such that they are mostly removed from cities, good point!
Depends on the city I guess, you see this a lot in the UK too where 2nd/3rd year university students take up a lot of these, but thankfully here in most cities most students/young professionals don't drive. Even then most these places have resident only parking which wouldnt' apply to many of these add-ons, it works pretty well. You yanks sadly rely on cars way too much
I realize there are 1000 reasons why people would or would not want an ADU in their yard. But in my neighborhood people already have multi families living in their home and there’s no place to park on the street anymore. I am constantly dealing with people partially blocking my driveway because they’re trying to fit their long truck into a small space because they are desperate. Traffic has increased exponentially and it is no longer a quiet place to live. Personally I think it’s affecting lower income area’s. You’re not gonna find them in places like Beverly Hills.
they’re all over beverly hills only there they are called carriage houses
My mother's in her 40s and has never lived on her own before, and at this point she probably can't, not without assistance. An ADU was exactly what I had in mind without even realizing the term or controversy over it, because I want to be able to help care for her as she gets older. Hopefully my S/O and I won't have issues with this in the future.
In her 40s?
Old ladies cannot climb stairs. But at least she's RELATED to you, so she won't need to ADD ANOTHER CAR to your non-walkable neighborhood. So I'm OK with the "granny flat" idea but not with the reality of amateur landlords squeezing renters into a neighborhood designed for SFRs.
Whats an SO?
@@rasmokey4 significant other
@@johnbecich9540You're right to be worried about cars, our society must make war against them. A lot of people who might rent an ADU can get around with rideshare, taxi, mass transit, or an ebike/bike. Bike lanes are a lot cheaper than more car lanes. So let's not worry about owner/landlords as much as Wall Street ownership. Cars are more expensive now than ever and not getting cheaper. Cities ought to legalize & normalize more smaller electric vehicles. A family could ditch a second car for a UTV sized vehicle that could pull into a backyard and fit in a shed. Velomobiles (covered bikes) are becoming more common. Real alternatives to cars that can go through rain & snow are out there.
It would be interesting to see how many ADU’s just become AirBnBs
75% of them in our HOA.. that's real data, not an estimate, and there are some very upset people in the 'hood!
AirBnB is literally in the process of failing currently. They've been a detriment to the nation on the whole and they're finally getting what they deserve. I suspect it's on its way out as it's come to be known for its many downsides including the overwhelmingly greedy and lazy property owners who use it.
My guess is most of them.
@@canuckviolet3322 based adu builders
it's depressing on its face, but it's not really the worst thing in the world to soak up some of the BnB demand with smaller, cheaper, infill housing
I live in a grandmother flat! I'm in Upstate NY, a pretty rural area. It was wonderful to go from a walkup where I had to haul all my groceries and stuff up a fairly steep alleyway and then old rickety stairs, AND take all my laundry to my mom's house to having a nice, single floor little house of my own, with a laundry room included. My landlords are really chill, and the whole property has been in their family for decades now.
Many of the older homes in our neighborhood have "Casitas" in back. We currently share ours with a family member, but it's also nice economic security since in a pinch we could squeeze the family into the house and rent the back.
My Grandparents owned a house in Chicago that had a Coach House on the back that had two small units. Very affordable (even in the 50's through the early 90's) and always interesting people that lived there.
In the UK we have had these types of houses for a while. We call them Granny Annex. As it sounds, they are for elderly relatives to move closer but not right into your home.
Here in the United States we call them mother-in-law houses. I've never heard of any of the other terms the narrator spoke of. Same concept.
Yeah! When I look on Rightmove at these houses with Granny flats or Granny Annex's, you can tell they are for elderly relatives because of the various mobility aids. I think most families would rather house their elderly relatives in these than a care home
Garden Suites etc. there are so many names for the same thing lol
Yep, used to work at a council part time at uni & these were always super common, seems to vary by where you live but some communities use these all the time along with usual extensions. Asians for example rarely put the elderly in care homes so these were common, even courgared by the council due to sheer pressure on care services as it was. Elderly care would collapse in some areas without these, especially since 2010 with the tories, hasn't been gutted like most things but it never kept pace with rising elderly population.
I always felt that stigma around mobile homes hindered a great housing opportunity and if they were designed like these coach houses it could change the direction of houseing im my opinion
Is the problem with mobile homes that they’re stigmatized or that they’re often poorly constructed and don’t hold up under bad weather?
@@MisatoIto not anymore. They come built with standard lumber and depending on construction can have a stem wall foundation. They have improved dramatically along with their price unfortunately.
They are hard to tell apart these days unlike the old tin cans
@@MisatoIto `Mobile Home` is such a blanket term these days. It honestly covers everything from things that are actually mobile (trailers) to modular homes delivered on trailers to a lot. I think the term has inherent issues in it's colloquial use.
@@GonzoDonzo you are absolutely correct. They are built better; however, the comment you responded too is also correct about the homes being stigmatized.
@@electrojag1 yeah its relevant for stuff built pre 90's but they are very different these days. Unfortunately i think they have priced themselves out of their own market.
We were recently looking at some for my mother and in our county it was going to cost almost 300k to put the modular on the property. Now a third was permits but thats still almost 200k for the home. Its cheaper for us to just build a real home so thats the route were going.
So, here's my take on this topic, and it's important to understand that I don't have a horse in the race. In my long adult life, I've never owned or lived in a single family home. I neither have a NIMBY attitude toward preserving specific "character" above all else, and I also don't fault people who find themselves living in car dependent suburbia. I understand that decades of policy shaped how the majority of Americans live today in these car dependent places. While ADUs might be fine in small and midsized cities without traffic issues, putting more car dependent housing in car dependent contexts doesn't solve for congestion issues in larger fast growing metros that are often decades and decades away from real transit solutions beyond the car for the majority. I can easily see ADUs being encouraged within specific walksheds or as part of a strategy to create walkable neighborhoods. In those instances, I can see their immense value to the community. However, if there is no real opportunity to fundamentally transform car dependent suburban areas, I remain skeptical. I'd rather see our governments look for holistic solutions for more housing that gets people out of their cars for at least some of their daily/weekly activities, and not ones based on how they primarily financially benefit individual homeowners who want ADUs behind their houses in their 0 walkscore cul-de-sacs.
This is exactly my view as well. So many people seem to focus on how it is good for the owner to have an ADU instead of their functionality with the rest of the city infrastructure. In the city I go to school in there are TONS of ADUs but the city is literally not built for the density of it. There are so many more people living in the neighborhoods, but no real public transit or walkability, everyone drives. THE ROADS ARE CONSTANTLY PACKED AND BUSY, its just constant drivers getting into crashes.
@@cameron7938 Thanks for the concurrence! I am all for densifying; don't get my wrong. I just find car dependent density the worst of all worlds.
Well if adu rub you the wrong way , rezoning would help. Allow people to build small shops and commercial business on their property it would help alleviate the issue , hell even building small transportation infrastructure would help
@@joestein6603 none of your suggestions are small...and come from a place of ignorance.
I agree with the op. As a person in a city with these allowed in certain instances, its not as if I look at them askance- they can be nice and look nice- THAT IS NOT THE ISSUE HOWEVER. Infrastructure for the density of population is needed, and if its not present, repairs and costs go up astronomically. A system overly built and largely robust will have fewer maintenance issues that are 'big deals'.
Due to the car density problem here, even with many busses and dozens of miles of bike lanes, it can take ridiculous amounts of time to get anywhere.
Pizza (and other similar fast eatery delivery) places no longer deliver under an hour, even if your are very nearby. They are simply incapable due to the traffic. The minimum is always quoted at 75 to 90 minutes, and this is often not long enough.
Our buses can only run on schedule when the car traffic is under control- and it is not, so those on public transport are even more burdened.
@@jdsd744 so your solution is to complain , I gave some ways of alleviating the issue . A robust public transportation is needed yes but I also suggest rezoning so small commercial shops can pop up on the block , if you allow people more options they would take whatever is easier and building a shop or too would help with traffic. Because people would walk if a store is across the street. I'm sure somebody said" every journey begins with a single step" you don't start you don't see progress , by doing nothing start small you can carpooling , taking public transportation, voting, educating people in the area that hey if we invest in this public transportation you would have less traffic. You can even join city council if you feel strongly enough and can do a better job than the politicians in charge but to comment on TH-cam with a stranger ain't gonna help you or your city. Good day sir
There are a ton of these where I live. Except they all just turn them into short term rentals. So it just makes the housing problem worse.
yep, they eventually turn into airbnbs so landlords can get maximum profit
Are there Rent Control issues? It is easier to get a divorce with kids than it is to get rid of a tenant that has rent control. Rent control does not work but politicians love to cater to entitlement thinking. Can you blame landlords for wanting to have control over their own property? It is so easy to think anyone that owns a home, let alone a rental is wealthy.
because if you actually rent it out for extended periods your getting the shit end of the stick, because the government protects the tenant instead of the owner of the actual property. Rent control, rent payment moratoriums, no right to evict.
It’s just a question of basic economics, bid and ask. These will help lowering prices.
Airbnb has completely wiped out long term rentals in my area. It's a small town, housing has always been a challenge, but now it's a popular vacation destination and almost all the ADU's are Airbnb's. Then when you do find a rental, the owners often act like they are doing charity work for charging 2k a month instead of 5k.
The thing that frustrates me about ADUs and illegal apartments in attics/basements is that this is proof that people don't need the massive houses being built today. Build smaller stuff that people actually need! 4-6 story walkups would be hugely popular!
Simpler to clean and maintain. Geared towards the minimalist lifestyle.
Not everyone can navigate a walk-up.
@@rubyruby6358 Fortunately I'm not talking about building those exclusively
The houses in my hood are 5bd, 3bth, when people had 6-8 kids,
What do I do with the extra room?
While true, its good to have ones own space so ADUs or any number of terms work quite well too esp if you live in an area with really high buy in costs. Modern houses are far too big, what should be happening is people build smaller custom units that fit what they themselves need - the attitude IS changing but not fast enough honestly
We have something similar in Sweden, Attefallshus. They need to reach less than 13 1/8 feet tall and not cover more than 329 square feet of ground, and not be less than 15 feet from the edge of the plot. Usually built with a sleeping loft, but adding a full basement is perfectly legal.
Sounds like it should be built with 4 levels of basement to get the maximum amount of housing.
Much better than the 3’ these folks left next to the fence line…where they plan to install “shrubs someday”. I’d hate to live next to a giant eyesore box when I bought a home with park frontage. No wonder the fence is 9’!
@@r8chllettersWould you really rather have less housing than maybe one or two odd-looking houses? Who cares if it's close to the lot line. Be lucky you even have a home, with so many folks going homeless, even while working full time. Huge setbacks disqualify most properties from even *trying* to build an ADU. I actually think the ADU featured in this video *is* ugly, but many of the pre-designed ones that were shown were very nice. I'd just as soon see cities adopt standardized designs that go along with existing neighborhood architecture, to quell concerns such as yours, and then go easier on setbacks and lot size requirements.
@@Nphen it’s one thing to buy into a neighborhood that is in high density development and another to have your backyard become a viewing site by giant buildings that basically eat the entire lot footprint…and take away privacy and quiet and change your home value. I’d rather see us covert golf courses into homes and make houses price capped so everyone can afford a 5-year mortgage for 25% of earnings. But to ruin current neighborhoods whose footprint is already small is really sad.
This thing of building houses in the backyard is pretty common here in Costa Rica to the point there are blocks without a single piece of empty land, and from experience I can tell there are worse issues than diminishing property value or increasing traffic. To me the most troublesome aspects of this are the difficulty to access a property in case of emergency, less room between housing units can create frictions because of the noise, getting rain water out of the property gets more difficult and water from one house can leak into the other very easily (especially if the lots aren't flat), privacy gets compromised and it just cluttered and messy.
That’s the big problem with wood-based design. The way to stop water getting into the houses is to build using a concrete 3D printer.
@@evannibbe9375 hate to break this to you, but water can also get thru concrete if you don't have proper water drainage.
@@evannibbe9375 lol concrete is porous
@@evannibbe9375 no that's the problem when you build something that's not up to code and/or build it like crap. Steps and requirements are done to account for the weather. Not just for redirecting rain somewhere appropriate but for making sure the water doesn't compromise the longevity of the house. Flashing, gutters, tarpaper, ventilation, insulation, siding, etc. Their purpose is not simply to make the house look good but to offer an impressive level of protection against the elements and have it last for years to come. When people ignore code or disregard detals like that as needless you end up with structures that end up breaking down and needing more maintenance.
Same thing in the Province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina.
This works on small lots where there is central water and sewer. Parcells that have septics - if allowed to build, the septic mound/field would have to be doubled. Easily a 20 grand extra cost.
In California we are limited by the department of environmental health to .45 acre per detached structure to install a septic system. So while the ADU process is simple, if you have any less than .9 acres and are on septic, than you cannot build a permittable ADU. Even if you have an acre+ lot, some times you have to instal a advanced system that cost 3-5x and requires a recurring inspection fee for the life of the system. 20k for this type of system would never happen, if these restriction eased up just a hair, than a septic system can be installed for about 10k.
I have an ADU on 13 rural acres. 2 septics. Built both houses myself. Each septic was 3k installed by contractor. Both share water from the same well and electric from the same meter. It’s not that big of an issue
I imagine some new exurban lots still use septic tanks, but are there that many lots where septics are still common?
@@wrileys 100% of the county lots in my county with are .5 acre or bigger us septic. I know county is different but in Nevada almost all communities are “county” lots
Alternatively, incinerator toilets are an easy solution.
As the one who assigns addresses for new ADUs in my City in California I can attest they have increased greatly in the last few years. Often garages are converted or grass areas covered with the new ADU to the extent there is hardly any yard or parking left for tenants.
If someone wants a place for elderly relatives to live semi-independently near them, then I am all for that. Most of these seem to be attempts by owners to cash in and double rental income while leaving new and old tenants living in cramped conditions with little yard or parking.
Yes, the dwelling itself doesn't necessarily have to impact the sightline beauty of a suburb, but with more people comes more noise, more likeliness for the increase of tensions between neighbors as people are literally living in peoples backyards, and then there is the impact to the street scape in other ways, such as parked cars (I don't see a garage, car port or driveway being a requirement for these as are often the rules for typical dwellings in suburbia.) Whilst also not necessarily a rule, people who are in ultra low/low cost housing such as these types of dwellings, are typically, both literally and metaphorically, less invested in the suburb (these are not always seen as forever homes) which can have a measurable impact on a suburbs security and amenity.
At the same time there is a housing crisis, and clearly we need more affordable housing. Here in Australia we have 'Hammerhead' blocks springing up everywhere which is a way to keep the existing house at the front of a block, and subdivide the back yard to put another traditionally full size house on the back. This comes at the consequence of not having a large back yard, but in todays time poor society anyway not everyone has time to maintain such a back yard. Instead, local councils are moving to ensure there are public open spaces instead which are maintained by the council services that can be used for the kids or for picnics, or other sports. Its another interesting solution to the problem that is in a lot of ways similar to this, and in others, completely different.
In Western/Central Sydney these granny flats are pretty common but almost always hated for a few reasons. Usually a renter is living in the property when the home owner decides to build a granny flat in the backyard and the renter has no say on whether they want this construction since it isn't their property. Almost all cases of a single dwelling with a granny flat are occupied both by renters. These granny flats have not reduced the rental cost in the area either, rent in my areas has been increasing each year even with the added granny flat constructions. Nowadays granny flat rent per week is almost the same price as a single dwelling without a granny flat. The most common reasons home owners construct granny flats is always monetary objectives, with the increase of rental prices at the cost of minimising space its no wonder these dwellings are looked down upon.
These things suck. They over crowd neighborhoods, are cheaply built and create parking havoc. Also they don’t fix the problem (not enough affordable homes for sale). Exurban building would fix that problem but instead of building 8,000 new tract homes in bumble fuck nowhere they think adding 18 ADUs to a street is going to “fix housing”. It’s not it just crowds up the place and makes life worse there
They also reduce the number of trees in suburbs, reduce privacy and amenity, and increase the cost of managing services for local governments (think about the additional garbage to be collected on suburban streets not designed for these densities - larger trucks are required but often small local roads and cul de sacs can’t accomodate them, so more smaller trucks are required doing more kms less efficiently). The notion that they are unequivocally positive and crucial to improving affordability is a con. They benefit landowners and developers and in Sydney, are simple reducing the amenity in many neighbourhoods and increasing the gap between rich and poor. They certainly have a role to play, but careful planning is required and the recent Medium Denisty Housing SEPP, rebranded the Housing Diversity SEPP, is not careful - it’s a sledgehammer where a scalpel is required.
@@LucasFernandez-fk8se Agreed especially when these granny flats are built in an urban sprawl area where you need to drive for basic amenities further minimising space with added vehicles. Its a band-aid solution that doesn't even bring down housing cost to begin with since it only profits the home owners who don't even live in the main dwelling to start with.
The thing with density is until critical mass is hit, the density will repeatably allow for twice as much income. I think the happy medium of density is three story multi-family homes.
Portland, Oregon requires that the homeowners must live in one of the buildings on their property, if they are to have an ADU. It maintains the “neighborhood character” and prevents the property values from dropping.
One of the homes near me has been constructing an ADU. Sometimes I walk my dog by it to see how it’s coming along. I think it’s a good idea. Better than spreading out over the rich farmland my area has.
As one of the participants in Houston's ADU program, I definitely think that they provide an opportunity for cities with large amounts of single-family home developments to increase housing density and diversity! Here in Houston, I do hope that the ADU program gains traction, as too many single-family lots are being redeveloped into multiple, identical townhomes, which may increase housing density, but are creating a housing monoculture (where everything is a 3 or 4 bedroom town home!)
Diversity 🤣
Kyle, Thanks for being part of the solution. You're not alone out there. Check out Casita Coalition and get involved as these are no longer just local issues. It's a national discussion that we need people from all parts of the country involved in.
both of these are non-solutions
we can build much bigger on those lots and really lots should be combined to build massive apartment complexes
we do not have unlimited resources to make everything look as beautiful as your american dreams but we do have the resources to make everything look "good" and work well as peoples and socialists movements across the world have proved
some places should be left as small scale and historic housing we want options and variety in housing options but if you are talking about maximizing affortable housing no it will not all look like home and garden nor should it
@@williamrobinson4265 so you want us all in Chinese type cities
@@stud6414 what do you mean?
Thank you for explaining this. Here in NY, the suburban parts were contstructed to purposefully keep minority communities out. Now they are trying to allow these accessory dwellings, which is amazing. SO many people cannot afford housing or to buy a house. Or like me, bought a house, but due to unforeseen life changes, have had difficulties ever since. I have kept the house thanks to help from NYS, but it would be great to have the extra income as a baseline to help stabilize my income.
Poor people were excluded, not general minorities. If minorities were excluded than ADU neighborhoods would exist and be disproportionately White. Even then, Black people the only sizeable minority race at the time of construction who would feasibly be discriminated against.
One thing to consider is the added use of utilities like water and sewer, the neighborhood I live in has modest homes for working class people. ADUs in the backyard has been the reason the streets need to be torn up and larger underground infrastructure added to accomodate them. So, they do disrupt the landscape. Also ADUs often don't include parking - great if you have efficient transit options, not all cities and neighborhoods do, however. When highrises are the only other alternative, I guess ADUs are preferable though.
It is still better to add ADUs and update infrastructure than to add homes on the outskirts of cities that create more sprawl. For suburban development you have to build roads, water pipes, sewers, electrical infrastructure, sidewalks, and extend transit if even possible. It is MUCH MUCH MUCH cheaper to densify existing neighborhoods. ADUs also increase the tax base to fund shared amenities and infrastructure. They are really great for cities.
I've been getting more and more plans across my desk lately with ADUs. I wasn't really sure what the point was, but this video has given me a great appreciation for them
My neighbor is doing this. Except it will be an air bnb. Just like the duplex next door and a few others on the block. Rumor I've heard is air bnbs earn 2x that of long term rentals. Means the price of houses can go even higher because the return on investment still makes sense at those prices. So homes becomes less affordable while the number of long term rentals available decrease. Pretty shitty.
The more housing stock being created still helps. Stops an existing unit from being taken off the market at least
Would you rather have big hotels get more money? Doesn’t mean it will be an Airbnb forever.
Not sure whe re you live, California state law prohibits ADUs being used for rental less than 30 days.
@@jasonheyward2873 in Georgia. My city has laws limiting the number of short term rentals on a per block basis, but the laws haven't been enforced yet so its getting out of hand. Not sure what our laws specifically on ADUs are.
That exposed plywood looks more cheap than stylish, tbh...
Traffic is terrible, especially near the U of M campus. When you jam 40k students in the center of a small city, things get crowded. Fortunately, the university is building high-rise parking complexities. Many modest homes are over 50 years old or much older, but urban sprawl is providing larger, more modern homes, at some reasonable commute away. Dundee Mi to the south has been a commuter community for Ann Arbor workers over the last several decades. Many University's' staff educators own property in the Irish Hills area approximately a one hour drive west on US 12. This town is still one of the best areas to live in southeast Michigan.
The biggest issue regarding ADUs is parking. Having lived in the SF Bay Area for 40 years and seeing the on street parking nightmare adding additional cars is crazy. As you know, in most older California residential neighborhoods people do not park their cars in their garages adding to the on street parking problem. Perhaps ADUs work best in less dense neighborhoods with larger lots. This is not a NIMBY reaction but a reflection of the experience of living in those neighborhoods over many years.
You make a valid point
A lot of young people embracing car free living. This doesn’t have to be a problem.
@@julianpowers594 No
You are 100 percent correct sir I live in a very populated and dense area in Oakland and parking has been a nightmare since my 2 neighbors renovated their garages into ADUs. So now I gotta be a Karen and call parking enforcement if a car has been there more then 72 hrs because I can't find parking anymore
When everyone on your street has a car something is wrong with your public transportation.
Regulations are very rarely enforced where I live so this kind of construction is common. While it provides alot of benefits some of the criticisms are spot on. ADUs increase density in suburbs where people rely on cars to go anywhere. If people are leaving urban apartments to live in cheaper ADUs, they'll be contributing to traffic. Depending on the extent of renovations in the neighbourhood, this means cars all over the streets leaving little room for pedestrians or big garage frontages.
They seem like a bit of a stop-gap solution to a problem that ultimately originates in demographic and economic issues.
Shhh! We're not allowed to talk about class issues on this channel. In fact, architects are such goons that they never talk about class, they don't know a damned thing about it. They are butlers for the upper class.
@@johnryskamp2943 Exactly. As someone who studied both philosophy and architecture, I can't describe this profession in any better way then "butlers for the upper class". If you extrapolate this "solution" into the future, without changing the political-economic system we are currently in, it becomes an image from sci-fi dystopian movies.
@@ZRodTW
Architects, traffic engineers, city leaders, etc. DO need to be more open and blunt about classist and racist ideology - the one we are currently living in. Instead of using technology, planning, ai driven planning algorithms, all the goodies we have at our disposal, with this so called solution, we are not progressing further, rather we are regressing into the solutions of the 18th century. Wondering what's next? Upper class bourgeoisie building these objects and renting them for even more money, so much so that the renter becomes servant. I've already seen this happening during the 90s, 00s in USA, and it's being perpetuated in, for example India, for centuries - the so called "voluntary servitude". It seems to me like todays intellectuals fail to grasp the implications of these "solution", and just like greenwashing, we are washing our way into something far worse.
I want to see these nimbys, like you call them, saying "no, we don't want this in our backyards" not because it will lower our property prices, but because they are inhumane solution to a humane problem.
You are right about one thing, though, these people are clueless about their own ideology. But I'm afraid architects, planners, investors, politicians etc. are as well, if not worse.
@@deeZeeDee I see where you’re coming from, but I believe ADU’s can be one of the many steps we take in order to improve our neighborhoods, cities and to alleviate the housing crisis. Of course they need to be implemented along with other solutions (as someone commented here: mixed use zoning, bike lanes and better transit) but if done right it can be a step in the right direction
I grew up in a 1960s development. Single car driveway, and with four kids, we had at least three cars parked on the street.
So parking density? It's not that much of a concern, especially in developments with larger lots, multicar garages, and wide driveways. (My current house can house two cars in the garage and four in the driveway.)
My 1950s neighborhood has huge lots. Some could accommodate an ADU in the FRONT yard!
I did wonder about adding an extra floor above the existing ranch garage, turning the garage footprint into a mini-apartment building.
In SC, a lot of people by the largest, 2 story sheds at Lowes and Home Depot and turn them into "party sheds" in the back yard so that the HOA and/or city/town/county wont bother with the homeowner. In reality, a lot of them have electricity run out there and either full plumbing or a camping toilet arrangement. It ends up becoming the dorm room for college age kids or family members down on their luck.
I live with my mom is a very small place but we are building a ADU type thing, it more like a 2 car garage with a 550sq/ft suite on top for my self to live in. One big benefit that you didn't talk about is the infrastructure upgrades. The main reason we did the project was to fix our 80 year old swear line that need to be replaced. Along with a 200 amp panel upgrade and 220 volt outlets wired up for 3-phase EV charging, along with making the lot solar ready and optimized, everything from the roof angle and extra large overhangs on the south side for the best solar adsorption. We even gained 600sq/ft of usable yard space to.
I live in San Diego - in the Hillcrest neighborhood. Much of this neighborhood and others close by were developed in the 1920s and there are many of these accessory units. One of my neighbors is adding a second and third floors to theirs - the ground floor being a garage and the other two a really gorgeous living unit. Clearly these were grandfathered in, and I’m pleasantly surprised owners are being allowed to update/expand their units.
I'd be worried that AirBnB would buy up & take over such added properties. I confess I'd be highly concerned if it happened in a neighboring plot & one of those infamous wild AirBnB situations occured. Rules for this would also have to go into localities not just laws for the physical structures.
Why do you care that people choose to make their ADU's airbnbs?
Eliminate minimum parking requirements. This would allow car less or car light communities to be created.
This would allow more apartments to be built as they are not constrained by parking. Smaller like micro apartments will be economically feasible to build. Bigger taller houses with more rooms will also be feasible as you don’t need parking for every room in the house.
There are some governments that are doing that, but other are not.
These buildings are only accessed by car. If you don't build parking, the street parking will fill up.
@@oliversissonphone6143street parking fills up regardless. Many garages are just used as storage. Even places with plenty of off-street parking are filled with cars.
There are many houses that are walking distance from transit and/or other establishments like shops and schools. People who work, study or take transit nearby may not need or have a car.
There are also people who don’t need cars, people who prefer not having a car, and people who can’t drive. There are people who share vehicles or car pool.
You can’t assume everybody is going to have a car that needs parking. Let the owner of the property and the renter determine that for themselves.
@@Basta11 Most people don't like public transit for good reasons. Not everyone like walking or riding bikes. There is a reason people buy cars once they can afford them.
@@studiohq It depends on the transit. Ask Singaporeans if they like their system. Ask the Dutch if they like biking.
I’m not advocating forcing anybody into bikes and taking public transit btw.
Simply that cars shouldn’t be forced on everybody by the law (restrictive zoning, parking requirements, car centric policies).
The policies restrict freedom, exacerbates the housing shortage, promotes income inequality, bad for health mentally physically emotionally, worse for the environment, and culturally sterilizing.
This doesnt seem to be an answer for homelessness nor an alternative for high rent prices, but a response to the persiveness of empty homes due to speculation. Building another home in the back of your own is extremely common in Brazil. It is called edícula. Several low income families does that in the same lot.
Here, in São Paulo, Brazil, 30% of the homes are empty. The lack of affordable homes isn't a question of lack space, it's a question of bad distribution.
this
1:01 Built this ADU “to help.” Help who? I don’t think the owners did this out of altruism. They’re doing it to collect rent.
I live in Ann Arbor and they're building like crazy. There are five new huge subdivisions in development within two miles of my home. The property taxes are very high in Ann Arbor, the new homes are cramed but very pricey ( starting $600K) so the city takes lots of money. But they don't built new roads so the trafic is getting more and more congested.
I live on Oahu where you basically never see this. What we have instead are these absolutely horrific 6-8 bedroom mansions going up in these very old neighborhoods where prices are very high but also most of the people there are aging locals who bought their homes back in the 60s-80s when they were affordable by middle-income families. The 'monster houses' as lots of people here call them have no yards, no grass, just a giant two-story mansion taking up nearly the entire lot with a cement parking lot for a yard, all clearly built as cheaply as possible with absolutely no regard for the neighborhoods aesthetic or sense of community. They are usually owned by banks and rented out piecemeal, like room by room, and often will have 4-8 cars in front of them. Its upsetting because, like many other states, we need affordable housing so badly here (like I can't imagine being a public school teacher in this state and trying to live here on that income), but this has to be one of the most thoughtless, ad hoc solutions possible. At the same time you will basically never see a smaller house behind a larger house here. I can't think of one at all, they're all at least connected and zoned as duplexes or multi-family.
I live in Portland, and one problem that I keep noticing is that once the original ADU builder sells their property, the value of the ADU and rental income potential is built in to the sale price. One aspect of the housing shortage isn't just a literal lack of housing--it's also the cost of that housing. Once the house has that ADU included in the price, it just makes it harder for families to afford a house, especially if they don't want to be forced to be landlords at the same time. I can't begin to tell you the number of houses for sale that have effectively abandoned ADUs or basement apartments because renting to strangers who will live 5 feet from you and that you have to collect money from is really hard. So, the overall increase in livable units is good, but it also doesn't seem to lead to increased income for the owner, or lowered rent for the renters.
This is where a DADU is better, as a seller can re characterize the property as a condo and therefore the different houses can be sold seperately.
exactly what i was thinking. Do we need more landlords? But at the moment, we should take what we can get
@@Jack-fw4mw but if you allow subdivision then the land values skyrocket and the resulting condos aren’t affordable either. Affordability can’t be addressed on the supply side only, it’s only part of the solution , and depending on the particular example potentially only a small part. In some countries, better regulation is required so that the use of dwellings as investments needs to be disincentivised in financial and taxation systems.
I live in Silicon Valley and ADUs don't help (and sometimes makes worse) the problem with cars and parking. (I understand that Cars are a massive problem on their own, but they're a necessary part of living here). A single family home with an ADU is going to have four adults, with their four cars, living on that lot. When my parents built an ADU on their corner lot in Cupertino, they didn't have to worry about the renters being able to find street parking. Their neighbors who added and ADU to a duplex made their already awful parking situation even worse. You can tell when a small residential neighborhood has a bunch of ADUs because street parking is completely packed.
I've lived in ADU's and have had some really great experiences and some really frustrating experiences. The best one I had was nice and new, the rent was fair, the owner was friendly and never bothered me or invaded my space in any way. I also had my own fenced back yard and it was great. I've lived in others where it feels like your space is always being invaded and that sucks.
Let people build ADU's and provide better housing for folks while turning a profit. There should be a stipulation though that you can't turn it into a short term vacation rental because Airbnb is seriously destroying the long term rental market in many communities.
I like this. My parents did something similar for a friend of the family that went through a divorce. They turned a garage bay into an efficiency. Put a nice bay window in. Walled it off. Built a little building off the back for the bathroom.
I can see both sides of this. In Hawkes Bay, New Zealand, I feel we have the problem of property investors trying to cram as many dwellings into a property as possible. The result is streets filled with parked cars since there's no space for them on the property. I've seen one house divided into two dwellings, with the garage turned into two additional dwellings and an additional small cabin and a caravan placed onto the lawns. Crazy.
Damn, its pretty visible even from google maps. Also, whats up with the skewed houses over there? Weird to see a house that isnt perpendicular to the street
We've been building annexes in the UK since forever. Also common now in big cities is to sell off a portion of your back garden/yard and let someone build a house on it, or build one yourself and sell it off (or move in and sell the original house). Often these are accessed via back alleys or paths between the houses.
In Southern California, many ADUs are used as AirBnB for short term rentals, especially near the beach, old town, foothill (hiking trails), or tech job hubs.
Excellent video! My city recently approved ADUs and I’ve thought to convert my detached garage. Lack of housing is one reason they’re being approved. Another, more nefarious reason is to herd people away from rural areas and into dense “smart cities” as part of the WEF’s 4th industrial revolution of tracking, tracing and controlling the population. I personally think an exodus out of cities into smaller communities is healthier for people all round.
Yep
Quite the opposite, as more dense residential areas generally come with more walkable areas, which leads to more general social interaction without it being a huge ordeal. The more sparse populated states are kinda what has led my generation, Zoomers, to be so terminally online and depressed.
The WEF plot has nothing to do with owner-occupied homes putting an ADU in the backyard, and everything to do with Wall Street firms buying up homes for mass rental. The ownership class doesn't care about density. Urban planners who want to stop seeing towns go bankrupt and want people to have good services are pushing for density. The "bad guys" want cities to go bankrupt so they can privatize water & other services and push everyone to bottled water like in Flint. Rural & small-town living can be vastly different themselves. Living near a midsize town is a lot different than deep rural that's 50 miles away from a town. The worst living style is disconnected twisty-road suburbia. A house might be over a mile from the nearest business, but still lack the peace & wilderness of a small town. ADU's would help suburban owners afford their properties, and give lower income people more options.
Vancouver legalized ADUs, or Laneway houses as they’re called here, back in 2009 to try and relieve the housing crunch we’ve been experiencing here for decades. Evidently, with huge migration west and record immigration, our province just yesterday announced that every SFH lot in the entire province (ie state) is now upzoned for up to four units to try and alleviate the growing housing crisis.
I work in local government in the planning and public works department. I, personally, like ADUs and tiny houses. I think they add character to a neighborhood, as well as, adding more housing options at different prices.
A problem that ADUs and other types of infill housing have is whether or not there are enough numbers available to assign new addresses. Too often these old neighborhoods had houses that were assigned sequential numbers with no extra numbers left in between the houses. So, they were given 2, 4, 6, etc. and not 2, 10, 16, etc. This is a problem for emergency responders, elections personnel, and delivery personnel. What then occurs is that the new housing is given an address of 2A, 2B, etc. My emergency services personnel and elections personnel have told me that the addresses with A, B, C, etc. and 1/2s, 1/4s are difficult to program for them to find easily.
I transformed my detached garage as a loft for around 6000$ 10 years ago, i use to live there while I rented my house. I'm pretty sure my city would never have allowed it..
I have a second cousin (I think that's the kind) who built a area above his garage in a country area, his father lives there. But who wants to live at least a hour from shopping or a quality full needs hospital.
Currently I live, myself, in a shrinking town whose access was a US highway, it's been rerouted into a bypass a mile north of the town, at least 1/3 of the towns commercial frontage has folded, and become accessory space for things like the communications company. Our grocery store has even become storage for some company. Our service stations have gone by the wayside to 5AM to 10PM convenience stores. Our population has been in steady decline, I think it's like 1.25 people per residence, and the school handles 3 towns. The communications company is a monopoly for phone, internet and cable handling 4-5 towns, our post office is box delivery only and part time retail counter. Others get mail rural route from a post office in another county. Our nearest full line grocery store is 15 miles, a mini Walmart 23, and a major town 45 with Costco and Walmart and Target.
@@Stache987 that's so sad
@@Stache987 so basically how 2/3 of Europe is living? 🤌
Can anyone please answer this question. What about sewage lines? More residential means more bathrooms. I'm certainly not an engineer or architect but if every single dwelling unit gets an accessory dwelling unit won't it overflow the sewage? I'm not criticizing the concept, I'm honestly asking.
@@andrewgraziani4331 Overflow is a real possibility, yes. The sewer pipes in my neighborhood had to be replaced because of densification. Guess who got billed a special one-time charge to help pay for that?
What about letting people share the houses they have? You can own a house the size of a dairy barn in most fancy communities (Cambridge, for example), but it's against the rules to let out rooms or apartments. The same rule-makers will make the most green noise, naturally.
woohoo i have lived in my ADU for a year now, and i love it so much! we have a duplex in the front, with their two yards, and we have our duplex AUD in the back with our shared yard!! we all have dogs, and sometimes we open all the gates and combine all the yards together. it's great price wise, my dogs and i are so much happier here than a regular apartment. not to mention it's handicap friendly so my mom can visit.
Unfortunately, where I live in Northeast Arkansas in a small town. There aren’t enough zoning restrictions to prohibit willy-nilly housing being put up. The problem here people are buying sheds portable building sheds. Some yards have two and three in the backyard. Some have put up large metal sheds and then they have boats and trailers and Everything you can think of piled and stacked all around all of these portable buildings. Now there was a problem here with one lady who pulled in one of those larger storage sheds onto a piece of property in the middle of a private neighborhood or I should say all residential. And there have been a few complaints about that but they don’t have enough ordinances to do anything about it. The house across the street from me recently sold. And the people who have bought it, I’ve put up a 20‘ x 30‘ metal building for storage in the backyard which unfortunately faces the front of my house. Now I am looking at this large metal building plus a motorhome and a utility trailer all parked straight across from the front of my house. And I can’t do anything about it. Now when it comes time for me to sell my house, what am I supposed to do.?
The way things are zoned in the USA makes very little sense. We’ve got massive parking lots that are never more than 30% full, commercial units that stand empty for years, and a housing problem. I wonder how you could fix all three problems at once?
Most neighborhoods are also completely un walkable, unless you live right downtown. I live in Chicago (not in the loop) and aside from a corner store, barber, and a couple bars, I can’t reasonably walk to anything.
I think are a wonderful solution. They really remind me of the mixed zoning of Tokyo. Now that ADU's are becoming more widespread the one thing that I wish we could reincorporate would be small commercial lots in neighborhoods. Such as corner coffee shops and small grocery stores.
In Australia we have tonnes of these in areas that are transitioning from suburban to urban. Usually 4 on a 1/4 acre block. They actually increase land value as it means that developers can make/ are willing to spend 4x more per a square metre of land as they can easily make more than they would if they had just built a single new home and sell it. The only downsize is that it hasn’t been great for housing affordability for families as the only affordable option is dense block style housing in an outer suburb 1.5h from the city or a small 2 bed (3 if you are really lucky to find one for an ok price in a good area)
That's not an ADU... that's subdivision.
ADU's in Australia are on the same land title (not strata) and aren't allowed to have a separate address or council services- bins and water. Electricity can possibly be submetered. Until recently they also had to be occupied by a family member. The size is usually limited to 60 or 70sqms.
Those old coach houses are absolutely beautiful. And when you switch back to the new one (just after 6:10 ) it is like a slap in the face. It really hurts. So much resistance against new building could be avoided if modern architects realized how their education has destroyed their sense of beauty.
The #1 impediment to housing development is Zoning and Planning departments. It's like an HoA for an entire city or county. Someone back in the 70's decided what houses sizes, and development standards should be. But we are reforming.
The problem is parking and traffic. When housing increases, but streets and parking are not increased. The quality of life decreases in a city when this happens. Also since secondary units can only be rented and not sold, homeownership is decreased. This is happening right now in LA.
He didn't even talk about that. Also note, he never panned beyond that guy's driveway, which, btw, was only large enough for a single SUV.
I forget the name, I think it's Iconic, but they develop beds that lower from the ceiling and office spaces that slide out from a wall, so when you aren't using these spaces, they disappear and restore the maximum size of your living space. It would seem to be the way to go, instead of permanently devoting of large percentage of the space to, say, sleeping.
There are several companies but Core 77/Resource Furniture has really cool stuff.
Murphy beds have existed for many years. They allow rooms to fulfill two purposes.
The problems mentioned in this video do not exist outside of large cities, so this topic was new and interesting for me. I just bought my first home on 8/10 of an acre for 50k. Big cities try to create a perfect community by adding rules. My community has almost no rules but we’re all getting on just fine.
Thank you for giving this perspective! I have had the same experience, having lived in dense urban and more rural areas.
Some people have have types of epilepsy making driving impossible so living in walkable cities are our only real option to live independently.
I live in a very rural area but it has adopted a no tolerance ADU position. Even the country people make bad rules.
This can also be a suburb issue, including places with multi-acre lots (generally, expensive neighborhoods). I'm on 6 acres and we couldn't build an ADU.
My neighbor refuses to deal with rats, vermin, and woodchucks that have required me to take overly extensive precautions to kill the ones that wander into my garden or home.
There's not a gap wider than a pencil eraser that's not covered by rodent proof screening outside my entire two story brick home. I use a live trap for the woodchuck so that the other wildlife isn't murdered and a bin for water large enough to drown them without opening the live trap. I used to dump them back in their hole when she wasn't home but even with the extreme smell she wouldn't do anything to deal, now they go into contractor bags for the trash man.
Bad neighbors are terrible to deal with. Doubling your neighbors doubles that chance.
I'm still for this for non rental properties. Grandma or your college age kid are welcome to come and stay, the last thing a neighborhood needs is more landlords.
I like the OSB and foam core, the lack of fire proof surfaces on wall and ceiling. Saves a ton of money and makes a wonderful FIRETRAP.
I WONDER HOW MUCH YOU HAVE TO BRIBE THE CODE OFFICER TO PASS THIS.
This place is so awful. I hope my city doesn’t ever allow this garbage.
Who the hell wants exposed particle board ceilings 🤣
ADUs seem to have an ownership issue in general, I understand that this issue also arises with apartments but I feel like people who live in ADUs may be more vulnerable to exclusion from the community and an increased feeling of impermanence (it's hard to feel your life is permanent when your house is literally an accessory to someone else's), if we want people to consider the concept of staying in dense areas we need to put some of our focus on to producing a sense that they can't just be uprooted on somebody else's whim
Having housing is a first step. Building ADUs isn't the only thing we need to do, but it theoretically shouldn't be any different to any other apartment leased from a local landlord.
I mean this is not at all the case. You are literally living in what is technically an apartment or condo (depending on if it has its own title). Secondly youre touching on renters rights and its a very tricky balance though Germany seems to have gotten this right so we need to look at what they're doing and build upon that.
But that whole kettle of fish is avoided when the ADU is separately titled and subdivided but then the city has to allow access from an easement. If you have that then you have a condo that you own
Better than apartment living
That’s why we have leases. If you have a good relationship with your landlord and are a good renter they usually actually want you to stay in the adu because you live right next to them. That’s been my experience.
Lol, nothing says, "I'm paying someone else's mortgage", like an ADU.
I live in an “ADU” in west Washington… a renovated shed, 430 sqft… $1400/month. Absolute rip off but if it weren’t for this ADU I wouldn’t have found a place to live when I really needed one. Add a bedroom and I’d be up near $2000.
It depends on the location, and surrounding density, it's a temporary solution that leads to overcrowding in residential zones. I think rezoning for multifamily dwellings is better. What do you guys think
"overcrowding" tell me you're american without telling me
I've lived in a neighborhood where people were allowed to build in their back yards. When many people built more homes in their back yards, the traffic became horrible (& still is). Power, water, sewer and trash became serious issues, and still is to this day in the neighborhood. Traffic there is horrific. Noise is also a problem.
When it was just a few, it wasn't noticeable much, yet when most everyone built homes in their back yards, resources were strained and now there are rolling blackouts, water became a concern, sewage treatment became an issue, and crime increased significantly. Population density creates problems. Schools had to have larger classroom sizes as well.
While I like the idea of some smaller homes, increasing population density isn't a good idea.
When builders build homes, they need to consider infrastructure. When that isn't upgraded ahead of building, it does have an adverse impact on the neighborhood, increases home prices, and has increased health concerns and transmittability of pathogens as well (we has a mesles outbreak when I lived there, plumbing problems in the mains, parking issues, traffic is a major problem there and water has been an increasing issue. Power in the summer is also a problem, and "rolling blackouts" are a regular event in that area.)
Smog is another issue, so in general, creating high-density housing is unhealthy.
After watching the neighborhoods there change over about 20 years, we moved out of the city, as it simply wasn't the same place it was when my children were young. Cost of living increased as well.
Yes, we have housing shortages, but building high-density housing isn't the answer. Many people left the city where we lived to move out to the country to get away from what it had become.
Having a "granny flat" when there is enough land and infrastructure is great, but building in already fairly small yard (you mentioned 1/4 acre) is I'll advised.
You cannot ignore the infrastructure problems, the crime problems or the other issues that crop up.
I thought it was a great idea too when we first moved to that city. After watching what a high-density neighborhood it had become, it turned out to be pretty horrible over the years. Where we once had more open spaces, it attracted homeless people, increased trash everywhere, increased drugs, depression, etc.
I think people need to build where there is room to build, instead of trying to put everyone in small areas. There is a LOT of land that isn't developed in America. This is where new housing needs to be built. There are also places where there are many empty homes.
I cannot stress enough how high density living situations are not healthy, not physically or mentally.
When we left the high density living city where we lived, we moved to a 40+ acre farm. We became much healthier. We weren't sick, we felt better and were more productive in general.
When people go to college, higher density living makes sense, yet once out of a university, it's far healthier to move to a less dense area. The air is cleaner too.
I hope this helps you think about it.
The city we lived in once had about on average 1/2 to 2 acre yards. When people built duplexes, triplexes and secondary houses, etc. in most of the yards, it created major and very noticeable problems.
After living through this, I no longer believe it is a good idea. People need space around them to thrive, and especially be emotionally and physically healthy.
The plant to human ratios change as well, and not in a good way. "Sustainable Living" needs to include the air we breathe, utilities, traffic and more.
I now believe every home should have at minimum a half acre - for families, at least 3 acres. High density living isn't healthy for people, is more of an accident haven, a drug haven and far more. On the surface it sounds good, but in practice, it isn't a good idea.
Frankly it seems part of the reasons these might be popular again is because companies that own and rent out lots of housing can increase the number properties they can rent without having to buy more houses or build more traditionally sized homes. If they are in fact the reason regulations are more open to ADUs now, then they won't be really solving the problem since rent will still be ridiculously expensive. Also in the suburbs they probably will overstress car dependent infrastructure, but that's nothing new that's just the weakness of car dependent infrastructure.
If it cracks open the ridiculous zoning laws and increases the total number of homes, it'll help. Even if it's done purely for profit instead of meeting the needs of the populous.
People don't build new homes out of the kindness of their own heart. It's almost always either building for themselves or building to sell to someone else. If greedy landlords double the housing supply to turn a profit, that's a good outcome.
@@nolin132 Apparently only I understand the basic math that, if rent is set to meet profit expectations and not lowered because corporations face so little proper competition these days that there is no need to, those new houses will sit empty and help nobody and nothing, and that is not a positive outcome. It's a bunch of polluting construction that can only serve a purpose after a market regulations come down hard and force those corporations to lower rent or sell property.
@@RiderOmega housing and rent is one of the most distributed and competitive markets in existence. Your assumption that housing corporations face little competition is completely false.
This is a promo for ADU's.. not a dispassionate look at pros and cons.
The problem is having two families with several kids each living on the same parcel of land and not paying much in additional property taxes, but costing the local government 150K per year to send 12 kids to school. I think its great for grandma but noway should people be able to pack in giant families and expect all the government services that come with it for no additional cost.
And giant families is what will happen.
I think this is a great idea from what I see. The thing I see it failing at though, doesn't have to do with the type of building. I think the fear of more traffic is spot on. Unfortunately American cities weren't developed with closeness in mind. These would introduce more cars to areas that are already struggling with traffic. Like I said though, this is more of an infrastructure issue. These would work wonderfully if our infrastructure allowed for it. Regardless, I believe we need to rework how this country functions at a street level anyway so I feel like this would push us in that direction.
I understand this. Looking at this particular case looks like the adu tenants had two bicycles in the yard which might be their primary mode of transit. Also someone looking for this type of housing accommodation might have a smaller budget and by that nature be a non car owner
@@ccosephvv tell me youre an idealist without telling me youre an idealist :)
That’s interesting because one thing that encourages non-motorized vehicle use is increased traffic. Maybe we need a lot more ADUs so we can have decent public transportation and bike infrastructure.
@@iunderscoream that's bogus
What about the impact on neighbours? I would be very unhappy about being overlooked, house and garden shading and demand on parking space. Also the loss of green space provided by gardens. Also home owners can be belittled as nimbys but may have saved all their lives to afford a house with green space which is then degraded by over development.
That Part
Nobody is forcing them to build and ADU in their own green space. And if they get belittled as a NIMBY for that, its because that's literally a NIMBY position lol
Amazing video! Here in the south (and I imagine the same in the north) in the antebellum period, coach houses frequently were used to house slaves. As a result, many of them introduced small elements of African/Creole style and architecture. It's a grim thing, but amazing to see how this has turned into a really mixed cultural background for modern neighborhoods and architecture.
I'm not familiar with this, but from your description, I imagine it is a great way for people often sidelined by history to be present. I wouldn't say it's sweet, but I think it is a good thing.
Coach houses are very much a part of Savannah Georgia’s beauty!
@@juliemac5604 Yes this is exactly what I headed here to say! Savannah has excellent examples, and I'd love to see more and more restored and rented out!
I definitely need to look that up, even though I've lived in the South my whole life a lot of the antebellum. Homes were burned down when Sherman came through the Atlanta area so we don't have too many of those styles. Now I'm very intrigued.
My sister and her family live in an ADU in California. Apartments in her neighborhood got to be too expensive, and they opted to move to an ADU to stay in the area. It's small (about 800-900 Sq ft) but suits them for now. It's a nice building because it's very new, and she has off-street parking (part of the regulations) which some apartments in LA don't have, or don't have enough of. Not sure I would want them in my area, but I can see how they are helpful to the tenants.
All the concerns which are dismissed at beginning of the video are true. Living in a big city, it ruins a neighborhoods feel, traffic is awful, parking is difficult, renters car less have parties in otherwise quiet neighborhoods.
what we have in Perth Australia is people removing their entire back yard/garden & building a proper brick & tile home. splitting the lot in to 2 titles. so a single quarter acre (approx 1000sqm) block become two 1/8 acre (500sqm) blocks. I view as a short term fix and an easy way for a large number of more everyday folks who own such a home to strata title (split) their block & make some cash. it has fuelled a big housing boom. but what we need to stop the urban sprawl is more units & apartments
The character of a neighborhood lies not in how it looks, but the character of its inhabitants. More people, more problems.
More people means that small businesses can survive, shared amenities like libraries, parks, and schools have the funds to serve the community. More people = more neighbors, more businesses, and better places to live.
@@modernaduplans Unless those people are serial thieves and vagrant non-taxpaying lowlives.
character of its inhabitants... Hmmm elaborate! ;)
@@milanomartin5417 Not everyone gets along.
@@GSPfan2112 who ya not getting along with and why do you have to interact with your neighbors?
my city got plagued by backyard houses, used to be a garden city, and now its filled with 2-6 house per lot units. Everything got worse, more traffic, more noise, less trees, less wildlife and more mosquitoes, more taxes (3 taxes per property) making a single bedroom house cost twice the minimum wage, and of course, the beauty of the city is gone, its just a massive horizontal appartment building now...
lol
Here in England we call these granny flats, especially if they are connected to the main house. My cousin has lived in 2 different units, wishing to be close to her daughter. They were both well built, and fitted into the area, but internally I thought they were unliveable as they occupied strange shaped plots.
I am not against such structures, but it is easy to cherry pick good examples to show the advantages. It is also possible to show structures that are future slums, that have negative effects upon an area.
In the example shown we were told that the structure did not add to the impermeable parts of the site, ie no extra drives or footpaths, yet 800 square feet were covered by the structure, a sizeable reduction in permeable land.
They are also an opportunity for deceit. Only this week in my city there has been a story about a home owner who got permission to build a garage on his driveway. What was built was a structure with no garage doors, but a front door and window, and topped off with dormer windows. Despite everyone saying that it's a house, the owner still claimed it was a garage, then announced that it was a garage converted into a gym. He has been ordered to demolish it.
Something needs to be done about the housing crisis, but I do not think that the answer lies in the eating up of gardens.
This sounds like a terrible idea. They will kill not rejuvenate neighborhoods. Most people who want to live in the suburbs areas want more space from traffic and want to strike a balance between hard to maintain rural landscapes and bustling cities. Too many of these will stress a neighborhood's and city's infrastructure. Plots of land are perked for a certain level of resource allocation and updating current infrastructure are pretty non existent.
That being said, I do think these homes are cute and would recommend them as the main house even.
This reminds me of some neighborhoods in LA where they have 2 homes in their backyard. It doesn't look nice and your packed in like sardines. I say look for another option.
I've been very vocal in opposing zoning changes like this. The last thing we need is high density living sprawling across suburbia, compounding the issue of urban sprawl even further.
The idea that these ADUs don't change the atmosphere of a neighborhood is a lie. Even just turning a single family house into a two unit apartment building changes the nature of a neighborhood at scale. My suburban neighborhood has cars parked all up and down the street due to the fact that all the houses are split unit apartments. Single family neighborhoods don't have this issue.
Quite frankly I do not want accessable housing in my area. I like small towns and I want there to be barriers to entry for new arrivals. I am not interested in being surrounded by rental nomads who come and go. I want to live in a community of members firmly rooted in the history of the area. These measures are just one of the one latest taken to deracinate people who want to live in tight knit communities. My state has taken it upon itself to force ADUs on all towns. They're doing this to homogenize living standards of the entire state to be in line of the lowest common denominator.
I'm sure land lords are excited that they can squeeze every penny out of their lot now but economoization is really not what living should be about. A cataclysmic realignment of values is needed.
You realize ADUs and similar developments reduce sprawl, right?
@@anneonymous4884 no, they exacerbate it by spreading urban density across larger swaths of land.
There are three main objections people have to ADUs and more density in their suburban neighborhoods: 1. Two more cars per house on the street, leading to parking wars. Everyone needs a car to get to work. 2. Loss of privacy/views from two story ADUs in a one-story development. 3. Neighborhoods dominated by renters instead of owners with the resulting decline in home maintenance and quick turnover of neighbors. Personally, I object to them on principle. I want to create more homeowners, not more landlords.
Not to mention when all neighbors on all sides do this you know they will be cutting down trees. They like to pretend that this is so good for the environment. Many of these lots the only "good" space to build out have a giant old mature tree. This example only looks good in this video bc this is a.midwest town with a large student population and they are across the street from a park and have no back neighbors. Show me a real world application of this where density is actually a problem like a burb near Philly or Balitmore (no wide streets and not walkable and no clean educated college kids for occupants) and it will look horrible and ghetto with a bazillion cars and the kind of behavior that inspired HOAs.
I hate HOAs. But then I see what happens when there aren't HOAs. People parking 10 broken cars in thier lawn, painting thier house black and lime green or flamingo pink, people with living room furniture rotting away on porch bc its not meant to be outdoor furniture etc) .... there should be more building of rental space (converting garages, basements, attics) and redevelop abandoned strip malld but not every cape cod community is a good candidate.
When you have too many accessory dwellings, then homeowners move out and rent out both homes. Pretty soon there isn't enough street parking. If you had a lottery so that one in ten lots can have an accessory dwelling. If everyone gets accessory dwellings, pretty soon there are noise complaints and undesirable people. We need a national policy to spread out the population to smaller and less expensive cities and reward businesses for relocating to these areas, rather than building suburbs outside the cities. Homeownership is easier where manufactured homes are allowed and land is cheap. However, we need to protect farmland and build homes on tracts of land undesirable for farming or on the sites of derelict buildings that can be torn down. Density creates. Good fences make good neighbors, as to large distances between properties.
Crippled guy here (who requires a lot of help sometimes), my family did this rather than put me in a home. I got to say, it worked out better for me for sure. There were laws against it on the books in town, but we got them changed. You know, if more people would do that and less people went to a home as a result, I mean sounds like a huge win for everyone to me. Don't agree? Come on now, just visit a home or two and you'll understand. The nursing home doesn't eat into everyone's wallet and/or inheritance, and you can keep your eye on someone without having to invite them in to your own house and having them potentially screw that all up.
I would have liked to have seen more discussion about the counter-arguments, rather than a dismissal of them outright. San Diego's poor road infrastructure and lack of public transportation is making it so that ADUs are actually causing a lot of friction in neighborhoods. As I watched this video I saw a lot of areas that look great for ADU build up, but I was waiting to see you address problems relevant to my area.
Now that there are thousands of ADUs popping up in California, people are quickly realizing it's not the end of the world and that it doesn't destroy property values in the neighborhood. Of course I'm biased! :) Can't wait to see what happens in the midwest - thanks for making the video!
My midwest town just passed zoning that bans it. We are somewhat rural and the lots are a pretty good size but they still seem to have a problem with it.
Loving the content by far you been posting Stewart!!
Toronto and a neighbouring city were thinking about having "Garden suites" to combat the scare (and in some cases), unaffordability of homes. In theory it could of served as a multigenerational home for families, and it will remain as a rental unit of some sorts. Problems though as described by the video and comments here, is the issue of hydro and missuse of the land, and it will not lower rents of the area but increase it. Moreover, certain places will still see illegal builds and will ruin an image of an area in my humble opinion.
Quite an interesting thought :)
Vancouver has laneway houses. They’re all over Kitsilano. I’m not sure how they’ve impacted rental prices but they sure don’t ruin the neighbourhood.
I’m looking into building one in Calgary as a place for a parent to live independently and without garden and snow upkeep. I want to build it as an accessible unit so it can also increase the availability of accessible rental housing when my family member isn’t living there.
I just love how so many of the solutions to our housing problems are fought because folks want to "preserve the character" of the neighborhood. What on earth does that even mean????
1:20 and they are 100% right. density decreases value (when less dense options are available) and increase in population increases traffic.