Answer a few questions about your property and we will tell you what the rules in your county allows. It takes about two minutes, and you do not have to give us anything to see the result.
About two minutes. No email needed to see your result.
We will look up your lot and work out which county’s rules apply. If you know your lot and county details, you can skip this.
We look up your lot and work out which county’s rules apply. That matters more than it sounds: plenty of "Alexandria" addresses are actually in Fairfax County, and there is a Fairfax City inside Fairfax County, each with different rules. You can skip this and pick your county instead.
A separate building in the backyard, a garage or basement conversion, or an addition onto the house. We also ask whether it will have a kitchen, a bathroom and somewhere to sleep, those three answers decide whether the law treats it as a home or as a shed, which changes everything that follows.
Likely straightforward, possible with conditions, likely blocked, or not actually covered by the ADU rules at all. You see what we based it on and what to do next.
If you would like a copy, give us an email and we will send it over. And let us know if there is something specific you want to know, we will get back to you.
Our tool can't give you a guarantee, but it's a genuinely good starting point! We've designed it to walk you through your county's actual rules and tells you where you likely stand, based on what you tell us. Think of the result as a strong head start, not a final answer. Anything that matters should be confirmed with your locality before breaking ground on your project. But don't worry, we're here to guide you through it all!
An Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) is a second, smaller home on the same lot as your house: with its own kitchen, bathroom and somewhere to sleep. People often call them in-law suites, granny flats, backyard cottages or garage apartments. One distinction, if the build has no kitchen or no bathroom it is not an ADU in the legal sense, which usually makes it simpler and cheaper to build/permit!
About two minutes. There are around eight questions, one at a time, and most are a single tap.
No. You see your result without giving us anything. We ask afterwards only if you want a copy to keep or want us to answer something specific.
The county’s own zoning ordinance, read at source and cited to the section number, plus the Code of Virginia for the statewide law. Every rule on our county pages links to the section it came from and shows the date we last read it, so you can check any of it yourself too! We know some of our customers love the details and fine-print.
Not necessarily, and not everywhere. Va. Code § 15.2-2292.4 takes effect on 1 July 2027 and requires localities to allow accessory dwelling units in single-family neighborhoods, but it has a carve-out for localities that already had an ADU ordinance before January 2026, and several Northern Virginia jurisdictions did. It also does not override an HOA. What your county allows today is often more than people assume, which is what the tool tells you!
Alexandria City, Fairfax County, Arlington County and Loudoun County so far, with more being added as we read their ordinances. If your property is somewhere else you can still answer the questions and we will see how we can help and get back to you.
