ADU Pass
Lake Highlands
Also known as LH, Northeast Dallas, Lake Highlands North, Lake Highlands Estates, Lochwood, Forest Hills, Hamilton Park, Moss Park, Lake Highlands Town Center, Skillman-Audelia Corridor, White Rock
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Lake Highlands — a USPS locale inside Dallas, No County, Texas — navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This locale covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
Locale-specific ADU details
Site (parcel physics)
Slope:
Soil:
Lot profile:
Geo-hazards:
Recent ADU permit activity
Utility capacity (upgrade likelihood)
Housing stock age:
Electric service drop:
Sewer lateral:
Water pressure:
Gas availability: available — Atmos Energy Mid-Tex Division serves all of Lake Highlands. No all-electric mandate or gas ban in Dallas as of 2026-04-21.
Locale property values
Locale market rent
| Sq ft | Rent |
|---|---|
| 400 | $1,375/mo |
| 600 | $1,650/mo |
| 800 | $1,950/mo |
Locale overlays (2)
- other — No adopted ADU Overlay District covers any Lake Highlands residential parcels as of 2026-04-21. A homeowner therefore must pursue either a neighborhood overlay petition to the City Plan Commission (6-18 months) or a Board of Adjustment special exception (3-6 months) before building. · +120d · +3% cost
BoA special-exception filing fee is $600 plus noticing costs. Overlay petition requires at least 50 single-family structures in a compact contiguous area. Lake Highlands North and Lake Highlands Estates would meet the structural threshold; no petition has been publicly initiated. - flood-zone — Parcels along White Rock Creek (west boundary of Lake Highlands in ZIP 75238), Dixon Branch, and Jackson Branch tributaries sit in FEMA Zone AE (1% annual chance) or Zone X-shaded (0.2% annual chance). Parcels adjacent to White Rock Lake at the southwest corner of the locale (ZIP 75218) have limited SFHA exposure on the lake-fronting parcels; the majority of Lake Highlands sits on the Blackland Prairie uplands well above floodplain. · +21d · +10% cost
Approximately 5-7 percent of Lake Highlands parcels are in a mapped SFHA, mostly along White Rock Creek on the western edge. ADU in Zone AE must be elevated to or above Base Flood Elevation.
Inherited from the city
These sections come from the city page. Click through to the Dallas ADU research for details.
- ADU legality
- legal history
- size range
- permitting process & fees
- permit forms
- contacts
- utilities
- incentives
- viability
- resale value impact
- construction timeline
- pre-approved plans
- financing
- service complexity
Dallas — city ADU rules and incentives
ADU legality: with-restrictions
Cross-listed entry. See dallas-county/dallas.json for the primary record. Dallas's overlay-petition framework is unusual: ADUs are largely opt-in by neighborhood vote rather than allowed citywide.
City cost envelope
$153,500 all-in for a 600 sqft ADU (permit + build). Midpoint scenario.
Permit fee bundle: $3,500 (2026-04).
City viability (selected uses)
City incentives
- Texas Homestead Exemption — Owner-occupied primary residence exemption applies to primary structure; ADU added value generally taxed at full rate.
County: no attribution (synthetic bucket)
No county
This city sits in the state's "no county" bucket — its ADU rules derive directly from state law and city ordinance without a county intermediary. No county-level sections apply.
Texas state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Texas has NOT enacted a statewide ADU preemption or ADU-by-right statute. Local governments (municipalities and counties) retain full authority over ADU zoning, setbacks, parking, size limits, owner-occupancy, and permitting. Two recent housing-reform bills in the 89th Legislature (2025) touch density and zoning procedure but do NOT preempt ADU-specific local rules: SB 15 (Bettencourt, signed 2025-06-20, effective 2025-09-01) caps minimum single-family lot sizes in cities over 150,000 in counties over 300,000, and HB 24 (signed 2025-06-20, effective 2025-09-01) raises the protest petition threshold for zoning changes. A dedicated ADU-preemption bill — SB 673 (Hughes, 2025) — passed the Texas Senate on 2025-04-10 and was reported favorably by the House Land & Resource Management Committee on 2025-05-08, but died on the General State Calendar when the 89th Regular Session adjourned on 2025-06-02. In the absence of a state ADU statute, homeowners must consult the ordinance of the municipality (or the county's subdivision rules for unincorporated areas) where the lot sits.
- Texas SB 15 (89R, 2025) — Relating to size and density requirements for residential lots in certain municipalities; authorizing a fee — Prohibits municipalities of population greater than 150,000 located in counties of population greater than 300,000 from imposing minimum lot sizes greater than a specified threshold (3,000 sqft for certain residentially zoned subdivisions; lower for new subdivisions) and limits their authority over setbacks, parking, permeable-surface, and height on those lots. Not ADU-specific, but functionally expands the footprint of small-lot single-family housing in Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, and other qualifying cities. Signed 2025-06-20; effective 2025-09-01.
- Texas HB 24 (89R, 2025) — Relating to procedures for changes to a zoning regulation or district boundary — Raises the protest-petition threshold for neighboring property owners who wish to trigger a supermajority city-council vote on a rezoning from 20% to 60%, and constrains the ability of a small minority to block citywide zoning updates. Not ADU-specific; affects the procedural posture of any city-wide ADU-enabling rezoning. Signed 2025-06-20; effective 2025-09-01.
State financing programs
Texas does not operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program comparable to California's CalHFA ADU Grant. The Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) administers the state's general housing finance programs — My First Texas Home, My Choice Texas Home, Mortgage Credit Certificates, multifamily Housing Tax Credits, the Homeowner Assistance Fund, and Housing Trust Fund awards. None target ADU construction directly, but several can apply to an ADU as part of a primary-residence purchase or refinance when program criteria are met. ADU-specific financing in Texas is primarily local: the City of Austin's ADU Loan Program (administered through Neighborhood Housing and Community Development) and a handful of smaller pilot programs are the most visible, but these sit at the city tier, not the state tier.
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 Code
- 75355
Post Office
- 10502 Markison Rd, 75238