Can you permanently live in a tiny home?

Faced with the long-standing problem of housing shortage and high housing prices in the United States, the California government has taken a series of measures in recent years to try to support homeowners to build accessory dwelling units (ADUs) through new laws to ease housing pressure. According to the SB9 bill that came into effect in January 2022, single-family homeowners can split their plots into two and build up to two ADUs on the same plot. However, as an accessory unit of the main residence, ADUs were generally not sold separately from the main residence in real estate transactions in the past.

However, this situation will change on January 1, 2024. California's new law AB1033 allows cities to choose to join and authorize homeowners to sell their ADUs separately. San Jose became the first city to join and implement AB1033. San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan announced at a press conference on July 19 that this policy has opened up new ways to provide affordable housing.

"For many residents in San Jose and across California, homeownership has become out of reach," Mahan said at a press conference. He stressed the need to incorporate innovation into housing policy to keep the American Dream alive, and this new ordinance is a step in that direction. Mahan hopes to see more California cities follow suit.

ADUs are becoming increasingly popular in California. Many people have seen neighbors convert garages or build extra guest rooms for family members. ADUs, which are generally a second property located on the same piece of land as a single-family home, are located in San Jose. To help homeowners understand how to take advantage of this new ordinance, the city of San Jose will host a series of workshops in the coming weeks.

In the past five years, San Jose has built nearly 1,400 new ADUs, and thousands more are under construction, a figure that accounts for about 23% of all new homes built during the same period. Now, homeowners in San Jose can sell their ADUs individually, just like selling a condo. Although AB1033 is already in effect in 2024, cities need to take additional steps and opt in to the law.