Do ADUs Tackle Housing Issues?
Introduction
Housing has over the years proven to be a big issue for many, given that the costs of private housing are not always pocket or budget-friendly to the average man, this is not far from the truth even in the US, because in certain luxurious areas in the United States homes are relatively very expensive. Which has consequently allowed for a high rate of homeless in the US, roughly over five hundred thousand people have nowhere to sleep every night, that’s about half a million homeless people. Hence this brings us to a simple and classic idea of housing, ADUs; before we go much further into the discourse of ADUs, it becomes expedient to emphasize that the law guiding the establishment of ADUs is less stringent in California than what is attainable in other American states.
Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
What is an ADU? An ADU is a classic idea of a home, which sees a smaller apartment attached to a bigger one for the sole purpose of dwelling, these second dwellings could be attached by the side of the major house or behind them, we also have detached ADUs where in there is some amount of space between the main apartment and the ADU, also there are interior ADUs where the ADU is inside the main apartment but in this case, the ADU sits in the basement of the main space.
These apartments are also known as granny flats they are basically a way of ameliorating the high cost of living within the California region.
It is imperative to reaffirm that ADUs are classic and not a new real estate phenomenon but they have been revived in certain areas to a good majority of people with homes.
ADU and housing cost reduction
San Jose for instance is popularly regarded as one of the wealthiest areas in the state of California, seeing as it is a vibrant and active area, yet there’s relatively a high rate of homelessness (around 7,000 homeless people as at 2019) in this areaand this can be attributed to the spike in rent and the aforementioned cost of living! Hence wouldn’t ADUsbe a brilliant idea in curbing this menace?
ADUs and the Reality of Housing
The reality of things remains that the number of low-income households outweigh the numberof affordable housing units, in fact availability of ADUs are not at all on the rise, as San Jose is also one of the most difficult areas to get housing even with a comfortable pay, the number of house hunters massively outweigh the listings or vacant houses in the area.
All of these coupled with the pandemic that recently hit the world hard made the government of the county to encourage accessory dwelling units. ADU San Jose are a way to invest in homes for people who sought to be close with their loved ones and/or family but there are stipulated procedures and rules that must be strictly adhered to in order to have or erect an ADU in San Jose
