Unrelated to retrofitting, but interesting nonetheless, you can soon – at least in theory – purchase your very own ADU to live in or rent out in California. You’ll be able to have your own California ADU condo, thanks to Assembly bill 1033 (signed on Oct 14, 2023).
How? The owner of an existing home and ADU – accessory dwelling unit – would need to convert both to a two-unit condo (or three-unit condo), then the newly formed ADU ‘condo’ unit could be sold off separately from the main, original dwelling unit.
A ‘condo’ is really a form of ownership more than it is a ‘style’ of home, ie one can have a condo office building where individual office suites can be bought and sold by different owners.
Specific rules on how to convert an ADU into a condo are being left up to each county, municipality or city. They will have the ultimate ruling on specifics once this ball gets rolling in the state of California. But newly signed Assembly bill 1033 (signed on Oct 14, 2023) allows cities to start to make rules on this subject in the hopes of expanding the housing stock in California.
And ADU could be a backyard cottage or a converted garage, and either detached or attached to the original dwelling unit. It would apply if it’s a ‘legal and permitted’ ADU verified with the city, and not just a previously illegal garage conversion constructed without city permits. And the ADU ‘condo’ would have to meet the standards set by each city before it could be converted to a ‘condo ADU’.
Do ADUs need to be retrofitted? Yes. You can read more about that here.
Have questions about owning your own ADU? Leave us a message below.
