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ADUs Are Good for People and Places Communities that understand the benefits of ADUs allow homeowners to create them ADUs are an economical housing option • ADUs can generate rental income to help homeowners cover mortgage payments or simply make ends meet. The income provided by an ADU tenant can be especially important for older people on fixed incomes. • Since the land on which an ADU is built already belongs to the homeowner, the expense to build a secondary residence is for the new structure only. • Many ADUs are created for family members or friends to reside in for free or at a discounted rate. In fact, when a loved one is in need of care or can't live alone, an ADU can be a viable alternative to a costly assisted -living facility. • Although market rate rents for ADUs tend to be slightly more than for similarly sized apartments, they often represent the only affordable rental choices in single-family neighborhoods, which typically contain few or no small or rental housing options at all. • The state of California and some municipalities are boosting ADUs by providing grants and other incentives as part of affordable housing and anti -displacement strategies to help lower -income households build ADUs or reside in them at reliable rents. ADUs are community - compatible • ADUs offer a way to include smaller, relatively affordable homes in established neighborhoods with minimal visual impact and without adding to an area's sprawl. • ADUs provide a more dispersed and incremental way of adding homes to a community than other options, such as multistory apartment buildings. • ADUs are typically managed by homeowners who live on the premises. Such landlords are less likely to tolerate a destructive tenant. ADUs are good for the environment • ADUs require fewer resources to build and maintain than full-sized homes. • ADUs use significantly less energy for heating and cooling. (Of all the ADU types, internal ones tend to have the lowest building and operating costs.) ADUs are just the right size • Generally measuring between 600 and 1,000 square feet, ADUs work well for the one - and two -bedroom homes needed by today's smaller, childless households, which now account for nearly two- thirds of all households in the United States. ADUs are able to house people of all ages • ADUs offer young people entry-level housing choices. • ADUs enable families to expand beyond their primary home. • ADUs provide empty nesters and others with the option of moving into a smaller space while renting out their larger house or letting an adult child and his or her family reside in it. • An ADU's use can be adapted for different household types, income levels, employment situations and stages of life. ■ Big houses are being built, small houses are needed Do we really need more than three times as much living space per person as we did in 1950? Can we afford to buy or rent, heat, cool and care for such large homes? FACT. ADUs house more people per square foot of living area than single-family homes do. 4 A A RIP I The ABCs of ADUs