What Virginia’s new ADU law actually says
From 1 July 2027, Virginia localities have to allow accessory dwelling units in single-family neighborhoods, cap the permit fee at $500, and stop asking whether your tenant is a relative. But the law has a carve-out for localities that already had an ADU ordinance before 2026 — which may include yours — and it does not override your HOA.
Va. Code § 15.2-2292.4 · takes effect July 1, 2027
What counts as an ADU
The law only covers a genuine second home: an attached or detached unit on the same lot as your house that provides complete independent living facilities, with somewhere to live, sleep, eat, cook and wash. That last part matters more than people expect. A backyard studio, gym or office with no kitchen and no bathroom is not an accessory dwelling unit, so none of this applies to it — which usually means a simpler, cheaper permit and no reason to wait for 2027.
What the law gives you
From the effective date, in every locality it reaches.
It becomes a permitted use, not a favor
Zoning ordinances for single-family residential districts are treated as already including accessory dwelling units as a permitted accessory use, and a locality cannot add requirements beyond the ones this law lists. No special use permit, no public hearing, no neighbour objection process.
§ 15.2-2292.4(B)The permit is capped at $500
You still apply for an ADU permit, and the locality has to issue it if you show the unit meets this law and the local codes it refers to. The fee for that permit is capped at $500. Note it is on top of the usual inspection, site and building permit fees, which are not capped.
§ 15.2-2292.4(C)What your locality can no longer require
These are limits on what a county or city may ask of you.
Setbacks cannot be stricter than your house
Your locality cannot require rear or side setbacks for the unit that are greater than what it requires for your house, or for accessory structures on the lot — whichever of those two is smaller.
§ 15.2-2292.4(E)(1)No stricter rules than for a house
On height, rear and side setbacks, lot size, lot coverage and building frontage, the unit cannot be held to stricter standards than a single-family house in the same zoning area.
§ 15.2-2292.4(E)(2)Your tenant does not have to be family
A locality cannot require any family relationship between the people living in the unit and the people in the main house. This is the provision that turns an in-law suite into something you can rent to anyone.
§ 15.2-2292.4(E)(5)No forced covenant, no street works
A locality cannot make you record a restrictive covenant about the unit, and cannot require you to improve a public street as a condition — except to repair a street your own construction damaged.
§ 15.2-2292.4(E)(3)–(4)What your locality can still require
The parts people most often get wrong, because the law is narrower here than the coverage suggests.
Parking is still on the table
Localities may require dedicated parking for the unit, and may require you to replace parking for the main house if building the unit removes it. Some coverage says the law bans new parking requirements. It does not — that claim comes from the bill summary, and the codified text puts parking in the list of things localities may require.
§ 15.2-2292.4(D)(2)–(3)Size limits stay local, but there is a floor
Your locality still sets the size cap. What the law does is stop that cap being tiny: it may be no lower than 350 sq ft on lots under 2,500 sq ft, and no lower than 500 sq ft on larger lots. So this is a floor on the limit, not a limit.
§ 15.2-2292.4(D)(4)Owner-occupancy, but only at the start
A locality may require that you live in either the unit or the main house — not both — and only at the point you apply. It is a condition of applying, not an ongoing obligation to keep living there.
§ 15.2-2292.4(D)(6)Short-term rental can be ruled out
A locality may require a minimum lease of 30 consecutive days, which in practice rules out using the unit for short-stay rental.
§ 15.2-2292.4(D)(1)Distance, one per lot, and no splitting it off
A locality may require the unit to sit within 500 feet of the main house, may refuse one on a lot that already has more than one dwelling, and may stop you selling or subdividing the unit away from the main house.
§ 15.2-2292.4(D)(7)–(9)Normal building rules still apply
Building code, water, sewer and septic, emergency access, flood zone and stormwater rules all still apply, as do historic and architectural district restrictions and airfield noise zones.
§ 15.2-2292.4(D)(5)Where the law stops
The limits on the law itself, rather than on your locality.
It does not override your HOA
The law expressly does not supersede private agreements about the use of land — recorded declarations and covenants, condominium instruments, and property owners’ association declarations. If your covenants prohibit a second dwelling, this law does not change that. For a lot of Northern Virginia, this is the provision that decides the answer.
§ 15.2-2292.4(F)Existing permits, and localities that move early
Permits your locality approved before 1 July 2027 are unaffected. And a locality is free to adopt its own ADU ordinance before that date, provided it substantially complies with this law.
§ 15.2-2292.4(G)–(H)It may not apply to your county at all
The last line of the law says it does not apply to a locality that adopted an ADU ordinance before 1 January 2026. Several Northern Virginia jurisdictions had rules for second dwellings well before then. Whether those count as "an ADU ordinance" for this purpose is a question about how the statute is read, and it is not settled — the law attaches no test to that line, unlike the neighbouring provision about ordinances that "substantially comply". We are not going to guess at it. What we can tell you is what your county allows today, which in several cases is more than people assume, and we will update these pages as the position becomes clear.
Every provision above is quoted to its subsection of Va. Code § 15.2-2292.4, so you can read it yourself. What your own county allows is a separate question — start with your county. This is general information, not a determination about your property.
What does this mean for your lot?
Three questions. We’ll check the rules against your situation and tell you what you’re actually looking at — including if the answer is no.