ADU Pass
Nashville
Davidson County portion
Also in: No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 22 ZIP codes.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: unclear
Tennessee leaves ADU regulation to local municipalities under home-rule or Dillon-rule authority. Nashville permits ADUs subject to local conditions per its zoning ordinance.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 150 | $1,600 | $40,500 | $42,100 |
| 600 | 600 | $1,600 | $162,000 | $163,600 |
| midpoint | 525 | $1,600 | $141,750 | $143,350 |
| maximum | 900 | $1,600 | $243,000 | $244,600 |
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. Nashville 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: Nashville Water Utility · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Nashville Sewer / Wastewater · 30d connect · $5,500
- Electric: Nashville Electric Utility · 21d connect · $1,800
- Gas: Nashville Gas Utility · 30d connect · $1,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 10mo · worst 16mo
Financing
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Tennessee has no statewide statute that voids HOA bans on ADUs. Common-interest communities in Tennessee are governed primarily by the Tennessee Condominium Act of 2008 (T.C.A. §§66-27-201 to 66-27-603) for condominiums, by Tennessee's Horizontal Property Act (T.C.A. §66-27-101 et seq.) for older horizontal-property regimes, and by general nonprofit corporation law for HOA-style planned communities. Restrictive covenants in declarations and bylaws — including those prohibiting accessory structures or secondary kitchens — remain enforceable per their terms.
Regulatory overlays (2)
- flood-zone
Nashville has FEMA Special Flood Hazard Areas; elevation certificates and flood-resistant construction required for SFHA parcels. - historic-district
Nashville historic districts trigger Architectural Review Board / Historic Preservation Commission review for ADUs in historic boundaries.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: City of Nashville Municipal Code — Accessory Dwelling Units, adopted 2020-01-01, last amended 2024-04-01
- 2024-01-01 — City of Nashville ADU code refresh (city-ordinance)
Conforming local-code amendments aligning with current Tennessee accessory-dwelling framework.
Effect: Codified permissive ADU standards consistent with state law and local zoning.
Davidson County (Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County) — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Davidson County operates as the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County (Metro Nashville), a consolidated city-county under the Tennessee Constitution Art. XI § 9 and the Charter of the Metropolitan Government (1963; ratified by referendum). With ~715,000 residents — Tennessee's second-most populous jurisdiction (after Memphis-Shelby County) and the state-capital county — Metro Nashville encompasses the entire county including the General Services District (the consolidated jurisdiction) and the Urban Services District (a smaller subset receiving urban-level services), plus the satellite cities of Belle Meade, Berry Hill, Forest Hills, Goodlettsville partial, Oak Hill, and Ridgetop partial which retain limited independent municipal status. Metro Nashville regulates land use through the Metropolitan Code of Laws Title 17 (Zoning Code), administered by the Metropolitan Department of Codes and Building Safety and the Metropolitan Planning Department. Tennessee enacted SB 1102 (2024) authorizing local-option ADU enabling but did not preempt — Tennessee's stateAduLaw is netEffect 'no-statewide-law'. Metro Nashville adopted Specific Plan ZN District ADU rules in 2017 and expanded ADU allowances 2020-2024 in response to housing-supply pressure; the Metro Nashville zoning code now permits 'detached accessory dwelling units' (DADUs) in most single-family zone districts (RS5, RS7.5, R6, R8, R10, R15, R20, R30, R40, R80, RM2, RM4, RM6, RM9 and most SP-R Specific Plans) by-right or with administrative approval.
County regulatory overlays
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
- 37201
- 37203
- 37204
- 37205
- 37206
- 37207
- 37208
- 37209
- 37210
- 37211
- 37212
- 37213
- 37214
- 37215
- 37216
- 37217
- 37218
- 37219
- 37220
- 37221
- 37228
- 37238
Post Office
- 1011 Gillock St, 37216
- 1109 Woodland St, 37206
- 1718 Church St, 37203
- 1906 Glen Echo Rd, 37215
- 2006 Acklen Ave, 37212
- 215 Donelson Pike, 37214
- 2245 Rosa L Parks Blvd, 37228
- 2325 Dickerson Pike, 37207
- 301 Ezell Pike, 37217
- 4112 Nolensville Pike, 37211
- 4501 Charlotte Ave, 37209
- 5421 Highway 100, 37205
- 714 Fesslers Ln, 37210
- 7619 Highway 70 S, 37221
- 798 Berry Rd, 37204
- 901 Broadway, 37202