ADU Pass
Hampton city
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Hampton city, Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. We cover 1 city and 11 ZIP codes in this county.
County ADU details
County ADU ordinance
Hampton regulates accessory dwellings primarily through its Zoning Ordinance accessory-structure provisions and Conditional Use Permit pathway. The city does not maintain a standalone codified ADU ordinance as of 2026. Detached second dwellings with independent kitchens typically require a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) from City Council with Planning Commission recommendation. Internal (attached) ADUs in single-family dwellings, including basement conversions and accessory apartments, may be permitted under the family-member-occupancy provisions of certain residential districts (R-13, R-11, R-9, R-8, R-M, etc.), with conditions including owner-occupancy, parking, and short-term-rental restrictions. Joint Base Langley-Eustis (federal exclusive jurisdiction) is exempt from city zoning entirely; military family housing on-base is governed by federal/Air Force standards, not city zoning.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Hampton's Department of Community Development handles zoning permits, CUPs, site plan review, and Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area administration. The Department of Codes Compliance handles building permits and trade permits. Because Hampton is an independent city, all permitting is consolidated under the single city government — there is no separate county. ADU-like permits typically require: CUP (if a second independent dwelling), Zoning Permit, Building Permit, Trade Permits, Hampton Roads Sanitation District (HRSD) sewer review, Floodplain Development Permit (extensive SFHA coverage in Hampton given the tidal-water frontage), and Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act review. Federal exclusive jurisdiction parcels (Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Fort Monroe partial) are exempt from city permitting.
County overlays (4)
- FEMA NFIP Floodplain — extensive coverage — Hampton has substantial FEMA SFHA coverage given its low-lying tidal-water frontage on the Hampton Roads waterway, Back River, and Chesapeake Bay. Buckroe Beach, downtown Hampton, Wythe, and Phoebus neighborhoods include extensive AE / VE zones.
- Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act (CBPA) — Resource Protection Area / Resource Management Area — Hampton is a Tidewater locality subject to the CBPA; RPA buffer (100 ft from perennial water bodies) and RMA standards apply across most of the city.
- Joint Base Langley-Eustis (Langley AFB) AICUZ — Air Installation Compatible Use Zone (AICUZ) for Langley AFB jet operations imposes noise-compatibility recommendations on land use in the Accident Potential Zones and Noise Zones surrounding the runway. Parcels in higher-noise zones may face restrictions on residential density that affect ADU additions.
- Multiple Hampton local and NRHP historic districts — Old Hampton, Phoebus, Wythe, and the Fort Monroe area include local and National Register historic districts. Hampton Historical Review Board (HRB) approval required for exterior modifications in designated districts.
Known county issues (2)
- other — Hampton is an independent city; there is no Hampton County. All ADU governance is at the city level.
- other — Parcels within JBLE federal jurisdiction are exempt from city zoning. Military family housing is governed by Air Force standards, not Hampton zoning.
Virginia state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Virginia has NOT enacted a statewide ADU preemption law. Virginia is a Dillon Rule state — localities possess only those powers expressly granted by the General Assembly — and the statutes granting zoning authority (Va. Code § 15.2-2280 et seq.) leave ADU regulation to local ordinances. ADU permission, setbacks, parking, size, and owner-occupancy rules therefore vary by county, independent city, and town. Virginia is unique in that it has 38 independent cities that function as counties (neither in nor subordinate to the surrounding county), meaning 'the county' for any given Virginia property may be an independent city rather than a true county. Several ADU preemption bills have been introduced in recent General Assembly sessions (2022 through 2025) without enactment; none have advanced past committee as of the Assembly's 2026 regular session adjournment.
State financing programs
Virginia does not operate an ADU-specific statewide loan, grant, or forgivable-loan program. Virginia Housing (formerly the Virginia Housing Development Authority, VHDA — rebranded 2020) administers general first-time-homebuyer, down-payment-assistance (DPA), mortgage-credit-certificate, and rehabilitation products that can be applied to ADU-adjacent purchases or improvements when eligibility criteria are met, but none target ADU construction as a distinct product. The Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) administers federal HOME and CDBG pass-through funds that local jurisdictions can direct toward ADU-adjacent rehab, but there is no state-level ADU-dedicated line item. Federally available products (FHA 203(k), Fannie Mae HomeReady and HomeStyle Renovation, Freddie Mac CHOICERenovation) remain the primary ADU financing path for Virginia homeowners.
State housing programs
Virginia does not run a state-level pre-approved-ADU-plan catalog, statewide impact-fee-waiver statute for ADUs, or streamlined-review mandate. State-level programs that touch ADU-adjacent policy are coordinated primarily through the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) and Virginia Housing, and act by funding or assisting local jurisdictions rather than by preemption. Local ADU activity — Arlington County's Accessory Dwellings program (detached ADUs permitted since 2008, liberalized 2020), Alexandria's accessory-dwelling ordinance, Fairfax County's accessory-living-unit program, and Charlottesville's 2021 zoning-code changes — is authorized under the localities' Va. Code § 15.2-2280 zoning authority, not by state mandate.
- DHCD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program — Federal CDBG funds administered by DHCD to eligible non-entitlement Virginia localities for community-revitalization, housing-rehab, and infrastructure projects. Not ADU-specific. Participating localities can direct CDBG funds toward housing-rehab projects where local policy supports ADUs.
- DHCD HOME Investment Partnerships Program — Federal HOME funds administered by DHCD to Virginia participating jurisdictions and non-profits for affordable-housing acquisition, rehab, and new construction. Not ADU-specific; can be directed to ADU-adjacent rehab at local discretion.
- Virginia Housing Commission — Permanent advisory commission of the General Assembly that studies housing-policy questions and recommends legislation. Has periodically studied ADU preemption and missing-middle housing without recommending statewide enactment as of 2026-04-21.
- Local ADU ordinances under Va. Code § 15.2-2280 authority — Not a state program — listed here because Virginia ADU policy is executed entirely at the locality level under the § 15.2-2280 zoning grant. A homeowner seeking to build an ADU consults the zoning ordinance of the specific county, city, or town where the parcel is located.
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.