The steps, the cost, and regulations of adding a granny flat to your Los Angeles home.
With Los Angeles real estate continuing to boom, we’ve found LA homeowners looking for creative ways to expand their living space and the solution for this has quickly become a granny flat or ADU. In this article, we’ll explore the benefits of building a granny flat or ADU in California.
When considering the construction of a granny flat here are the top things you’ll want to explore before you put your contractor to work.
- Los Angeles construction regulations
- Project estimate
- California Permits
- Square footage of your backyard or if you plan to convert your garage into a granny flat, square footage of your garage.
- Do you plan to use this granny flat as a rental or in-law unit?
But, first, before we dig deeper into these details let’s make sure we have a clear idea of the purpose of a granny flat in Los Angeles.
Here’s the download, a granny flat or ADU “accessory dwelling unit” is designed for one to two people, a granny flat is a self-contained living area usually located on the grounds of a single-family home. A granny flat can be a detached remodel, or it can be attached to your home. It is sometimes called a granny flat because it is a popular way for Los Angeles families to accommodate their aging parents. This is designed
Now that we’ve got a better sense of the terminology let’s explore some more granny flat details.
Los Angeles granny flat remodeling regulations
Under California state law, when working with a contract to build your granny flat of ADU to attach this remodel to the main house you’ll be limited to a maximum of 1,200 square feet or half the size of the existing residence, whichever is smaller. Detached granny flat units or garage renovations can’t be larger than 1,200 square feet.
Permits for your Los Angeles granny flat
Dan Bertolet with Sightline Institute shared some exciting stats about permits for granny flat construction in Los Angeles, “Prior to 2017, Los Angeles was permitting 100 to 200 ADUs per year. In 2017, ADU permits leaped to 2,326, and then in 2018 they nearly doubled to 4,171, accounting for one fifth of all permits. In contrast, in the years before 2017, ADU permits comprised a mere 1 percent of the total”
So clearly, LA is loving this granny flat ADU construction trend. When working with your contract they will support you in with the permit process to ensure that you have what you need to legally renovate your granny flat in Los Angeles.
Cost/estimate for your Los Angeles ADU
The most cost-effective way to approach a granny flat or ADU construction project would be to remodel an existing structure such as your garage or perhaps a pool house. If you have an existing structure your contractor will provide you an estimate of between $75,000 and $120,000 for the project. Identifying the right Los Angeles based Remodeling Company will be key in creating your granny flat with ease.
Uses for your granny flat
So, here’s the download, a granny flat is a wonderful solution if you’d like to rent space to supplement your costs without having someone living inside your main house. Also, in California, granny flats are widely referred to as in-law units, a space where you can have elderly parents or relatives live while still maintain your privacy. In today’s Los Angeles real estate market, it is certainly on-trend to create community living experiences…a granny flat could be the perfect fit.
Keeping up with the remodeling trends in Los Angeles means you must design…dream…build! Let the team at Structura Remodeling support you. There is no job too small for our team with over 16 years’ experience. Claim your free in-home consultation and let’s talk granny flats.
