If you have been following my articles over the years you have heard me talk about companion units also known as “granny flats” several times. Its probably one of the subjects we as remodelers get asked about the most. Homeowners think why not build essentially a self-supporting apartment to rent out or have a family member stay with you. Over the years I had gotten pretty good at discouraging this dream or modifying it so that it would comply by the rules of the city. These projects were extremely rare to get approved (in my experience), first because of minimum lot size requirement and then simply the exorbitant amount of fees charged. Many wanted to build these units but few were able to. In the last year, this city’s philosophy regarding these units has changed drastically. According to the city’s own development services website, ​“One of the fastest and least expensive ways we can increase affordable housing in San Diego is to make it easier to build granny flats”.

In order to increase development of these affordable units, the city has removed fees, dedicated money to the infrastructure requirements and even given us an option that requires no additional parking. The rules now accept that these units can be rented and can have the elusive 2n​d kitchen which used to be a hard line. From their press release, April 30t​h​, 2018 “With these new incentives, we’re removing barriers to encourage the construction of new units that San Diegan’s can actually afford. This will be another tool we’ll use to tackle our housing needs.”
For these reasons, I believe we are entering into the new era of “granny flat” building and it may be time to consider building yours. If you would like to talk with K-Co about building a granny flat on your home, please contact us!
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