ADU Pass
Detroit
Wayne County portion
Also in: No County · Oakland County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 29 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Michigan partially preempts local ADU restrictions; cities retain authority over design and setbacks. Detroit permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,900 | $33,000 | $34,900 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,900 | $132,000 | $133,900 |
| midpoint | 575 | $1,900 | $126,500 | $128,400 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $1,900 | $220,000 | $221,900 |
Fee breakdown
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of ADU generally permitted; landlord-tenant law and any city rental-registration ordinance apply.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions STR rules vary by city. Detroit regulates STRs separately from ADU permitting; check local STR ordinance and HOA covenants.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home occupation permit or rezoning.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted with restrictions on signage and customer traffic.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Limited urban agriculture permitted in residential zones; livestock varies by district.
- Relative support: yes Family-occupancy ADU explicitly permitted in single-family zones.
Utilities
- Water: Detroit Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Detroit Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Detroit Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Detroit Gas Utility · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 11mo · worst 16mo
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Michigan has no HOA-ADU preemption; HOA covenants restricting ADUs are enforceable.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: City of Detroit Municipal Code — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2020-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 2024-01-01 — City of Detroit ADU code refresh (city-ordinance)
Conforming local-code amendments aligning with current Michigan accessory-dwelling framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards consistent with state law and local zoning.
Wayne County — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Wayne County, MI (1.74M residents - the most populous Michigan county, including Detroit) does not exercise broad zoning authority over its 43 municipalities. Michigan is a strong municipal/township zoning state under the Michigan Zoning Enabling Act (PA 110 of 2006). Wayne County operates a county-level building department (Wayne County Building & Code Compliance) for the small set of unincorporated areas, but most of the county is incorporated. Detroit's ADU rules sit in the Detroit Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 50). Suburban Wayne municipalities (Dearborn, Livonia, Westland, Taylor, Canton Township, Plymouth Township, Northville Township, Redford Township) each set their own ADU rules.
State-floor overlay: Michigan has not enacted statewide ADU preemption.
County regulatory overlays
Wayne County administers flood-hazard, and (where mapped) coastal, wildland-fire, historic, and airport overlays that shape ADU project feasibility. The most consistent overlay across the county is FEMA NFIP floodplain regulation; other overlays apply to specific geographies inside the county.
- FEMA NFIP Special Flood Hazard Areas in Wayne County — A new ADU in a mapped SFHA must be elevated to or above the Base Flood Elevation; cost impact on the project is often material.
- Historic districts and individually-listed historic resources
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Wayne County issues building permits for parcels in unincorporated territory through its development services / planning department, with separate review tracks for zoning conformance, building-code compliance, on-site sewage where applicable, floodplain compliance, and addressing. Inside incorporated municipalities, city departments handle their own permits; the county's authority is geographically limited to unincorporated territory. An ADU permit application is typically processed as a residential building permit with a zoning verification step against the county's ordinance for the parcel's zoning district.
Michigan state — ADU law and programs
State financing programs
Michigan does not currently operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program. The Michigan State Housing Development Authority (MSHDA), established 1966, administers the MI Home Loan and MI Home Loan Flex mortgage products, the MI 10K DPA Loan (up to $10,000 down-payment assistance as a 0% interest second mortgage due at sale or payoff), and the MI Neighborhood statewide housing grant program. MSHDA's housing-readiness initiatives explicitly mention streamlining site-plan review and approval for ADU and missing-middle projects, but no ADU-targeted construction loan exists yet. ADU costs may be financed through standard renovation or construction loans when the ADU is part of a qualifying primary-residence transaction.
State housing programs
Michigan's primary state-level ADU-related programs are MSHDA's Housing Ready Initiative (technical assistance to municipalities for streamlined ADU and missing-middle approval processes) and the MI Neighborhood statewide housing grant. There is no statewide pre-approved ADU plan catalog, no statewide ADU rebate, and no statewide ADU impact-fee waiver statute. The pending HB 5529-5531 / HB 5581-5585 zoning preemption package, if enacted, would establish a statewide ADU floor; until then, state-level intervention is technical-assistance-only.
- MSHDA Housing Ready Initiative — Technical assistance to Michigan municipalities to streamline ADU, missing-middle, and infill-housing approvals. Focuses on site-plan review, density-friendly zoning, and ministerial-permit pathways.
- MI Neighborhood Statewide Housing Grant — MSHDA grant program for housing-supply expansion. Can fund municipal ADU pilot programs and ADU-supportive infrastructure investments.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.
ZIP Codes
- 48201
- 48202
- 48203
- 48204
- 48205
- 48206
- 48207
- 48208
- 48209
- 48210
- 48211
- 48212
- 48213
- 48214
- 48215
- 48216
- 48219
- 48221
- 48223
- 48224
- 48225
- 48226
- 48227
- 48228
- 48230
- 48234
- 48235
- 48238
- 48243
Post Office
- 10721 E Jefferson Ave, 48214
- 12711 E Jefferson Ave, 48230
- 13426 Schaefer Hwy, 48227
- 1401 W Fort St Rm 1006, 48233
- 1401 W Fort St Rm M129, 48233
- 14461 E 7 Mile Rd, 48205
- 14600 Dequindre St, 48212
- 16500 Joy Rd, 48228
- 17375 Harper Ave, 48224
- 17625 W 7 Mile Rd, 48235
- 1901 Springwells St, 48209
- 20501 Livernois Ave, 48221
- 20615 Fenkell St, 48223
- 22503 Grand River Ave, 48219
- 2720 Fenkell St, 48238
- 3434 Chene St, 48207
- 3969 Livernois Ave, 48210
- 4744 Grand River Ave, 48208
- 5511 E 7 Mile Rd, 48234
- 60 E Milwaukee St, 48202
- 9650 Grand River Ave, 48204