ADU Pass
Metro
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Metro — a USPS locale inside Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee — navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This locale covers 3 ZIP codes.
Nashville — city ADU rules and incentives
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.
City cost envelope
$143,350 all-in for a 525 sqft ADU (permit + build). Midpoint scenario.
Permit fee bundle: $1,600.
City viability (selected uses)
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
- 37208
- 37218
- 37228
Post Office
- 2245 Rosa L Parks Blvd, 37228