ADU Pass
Glen Allen
No County portion
Also in: Hanover County · Henrico County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Glen Allen, No County, Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 1 ZIP code.
Map
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
ADUs allowed but require Conditional Use Permit (CUP) — a multi-month process. STR EXPLICITLY PROHIBITED on Henrico ADUs (distinctive Henrico rule). Long-term rental allowed; no family-occupancy mandate. 35-percent-of-floor-area-OR-800-sqft-whichever-LESS rule is more restrictive than NoVA jurisdictions where 'greater' applies.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $1,450 | $78,000 | $79,450 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,100 | $234,000 | $236,100 |
| midpoint | 500 | $1,950 | $195,000 | $196,950 |
| maximum | 800 | $2,400 | $312,000 | $314,400 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of permitted ADU is allowed; Henrico does NOT require family occupancy (more permissive than some VA jurisdictions on this point).
- Short-term rental: no Henrico County Ordinance #1029 EXPLICITLY PROHIBITS short-term rentals of ADUs. This is a distinctive Henrico rule and materially affects Glen Allen ADU economics versus surrounding jurisdictions.
- Office rental: no Office rental to third parties not permitted in residential zones.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted under Henrico Code Chapter 24 with restrictions on signage and traffic.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist/workshop studio is a permitted accessory use.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Western Glen Allen abuts A-1 agricultural zones; central CDP is residential/PD only.
- Relative support: yes Multigenerational occupancy permitted; no family-relation requirement.
Contacts
Utilities
- Water: Henrico County Public Utilities · 30d connect · $6,000
- Sewer: Henrico County Public Utilities · 35d connect · $7,000
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia · 30d connect · $2,000
- Gas: Columbia Gas of Virginia · 45d connect · $2,500
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 9mo · typical 14mo · worst 20mo
Modular pathway inspectors are occasional with modular
I-95, I-295, and I-64 corridors offer good wide-load access from VA modular factories.
Financing
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Glen Allen has substantial HOA presence in newer subdivisions (Wyndham, Hampton Park, Twin Hickory); many prohibit detached ADUs by covenant. Virginia POAA does not preempt HOA ADU bans.
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Henrico County Code Chapter 24 (Zoning) — Ordinance #1029 (Accessory Dwelling Units), adopted 2002-06-11, last amended 2002-06-11
- 2002-06-11 — Henrico County Board of Supervisors adopts Ordinance #1029 (Accessory Dwelling Units) (county-ordinance)
Established current Henrico ADU framework: by Conditional Use Permit, 800 sqft cap, 35-percent-of-floor-area-OR-800-sqft-whichever-less rule, parking requirement, STR prohibition.
Effect: Established the legal framework governing Glen Allen ADU applications. Pre-dates SB531's January 2026 cutoff so likely exempts Henrico from the broader statewide mandate. - 2026-04-14 — Virginia SB531 signed into law (state-bill)
Statewide ADU mandate; effective July 1, 2027. Caps permit fees at $500 and prohibits family-relation or setback restrictions stricter than primary dwellings.
Effect: Henrico likely exempt due to 2002 pre-existing ordinance; legacy 35-percent-LESS rule and CUP requirement may persist past the July 2027 effective date.
Known issues (2)
- policy-review — Adds 3-6 months to project timeline and 5-15 percent application/legal cost; not all CUPs are approved.
- other — Cuts gross-revenue potential 30-50 percent versus jurisdictions allowing STR.
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.
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.
ZIP Code
- 23058
Post Office
- 4990 Sadler Pl, 23060