ADU Pass
Hampton
No County portion
Also in: Hampton city · Newport News city · Poquoson city
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Hampton, 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
Hampton allows ADUs by right in single-family residential districts under its 2023 ordinance amendment, but coastal exposure to storm surge plus Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area RPA buffers materially constrain siting on a significant share of city parcels. Langley Air Force Base noise contours add a further overlay in the northeastern part of the city.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $2,500 | $60,000 | $62,500 |
| midpoint | 600 | $2,500 | $180,000 | $182,500 |
| 600 | 600 | $2,500 | $180,000 | $182,500 |
| 1000 | 1,000 | $2,500 | $300,000 | $302,500 |
| maximum | 1,000 | $2,500 | $300,000 | $302,500 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of an approved ADU is permitted under the 2023 ordinance; Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act governs.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Hampton requires STR registration and applies a 5% transient occupancy tax. STR demand from Langley AFB visitor traffic, Hampton Coliseum events, and Buckroe Beach summer tourism is moderate.
- Office rental: with-restrictions Detached office rental requires home-occupation approval or B-1 commercial zoning.
- Home office: yes Home occupation permitted in residential districts subject to traffic, signage, and customer-visit limits.
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal artist studio is a permitted accessory use in residential districts.
- Agriculture: no Hampton is fully urbanized; agricultural use is not a relevant pathway.
- Relative support: yes Family-member occupancy was a principal motivation for the 2023 ordinance amendment; in-law and aging-parent ADUs are explicitly contemplated.
Contacts
Staff: Hampton Community Development (Zoning Administrator), Hampton Codes Compliance (Building Official)
Utilities
- Water: Newport News Waterworks (regional water service to Hampton) · 30d connect · $4,500
- Sewer: Hampton Roads Sanitation District (treatment); Hampton Public Works (collection) · 45d connect · $7,000
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia · 30d connect · $2,300
- Gas: Virginia Natural Gas · 21d connect · $1,800
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 7mo · typical 11mo · worst 17mo
Modular pathway inspectors are experienced with modular
Financing
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Newer Hampton subdivisions commonly carry HOA covenants; older historic neighborhoods (Old Hampton, Phoebus, Wythe) typically do not but may carry historic-district restrictions instead.
Regulatory overlays (4)
- wetland-overlay
Tidewater Virginia; RPA 100-ft buffers attach to Chesapeake Bay frontage, Back River, Hampton Creek, and tidal tributaries. WQIA required for any buffer encroachment. (map) - flood-zone
Substantial share of Hampton parcels intersect mapped SFHA due to low coastal elevation. Storm surge from Atlantic hurricanes is the design event of memory. (map) - airport-noise-zone
Langley AFB occupies the northeastern portion of Hampton; F-22 Raptor and other aircraft operations generate AICUZ noise contours affecting adjacent residential parcels. (map) - historic-district
Multiple NRHP-listed historic districts in older Hampton neighborhoods; exterior alterations may require preservation review. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Hampton City Zoning Ordinance, Section 2-2 ADU definition and Chapter 3 Uses Permitted, adopted 1952-01-01, last amended 2023-09-13
- 1610-07-09 — Hampton founded as Kecoughtan (private-development)
English settlers established Kecoughtan in 1610, making Hampton one of the oldest continuously-inhabited English-speaking communities in North America.
Effect: The depth of the historic record produces NRHP-listed districts (Old Hampton, Phoebus, Wythe) where exterior alterations trigger preservation review. - 1952-07-01 — Consolidation of Hampton with Elizabeth City County and the Town of Phoebus (state-statute)
Hampton's consolidation in 1952 dissolved Elizabeth City County and absorbed Phoebus into the independent city, expanding the corporate boundary to its modern extent.
Effect: Modern Hampton ADU policy applies to the post-1952 city boundary; pre-1952 historic Hampton is a small fraction of the present city footprint. - 1988-07-01 — Chesapeake Bay Preservation Act applies to Hampton (full Tidewater) (state-statute)
CBPA Resource Protection Area (100 ft) buffers attach to Hampton parcels fronting the Chesapeake Bay, Back River, Hampton Creek, and tidal tributaries.
Effect: RPA buffer constraints affect ADU siting on a meaningful share of city parcels and trigger Water Quality Impact Assessment review. - 2023-09-13 — Hampton City Council amends Zoning Ordinance to permit ADUs by right (city-ordinance)
Hampton City Council adopted the ordinance amendment establishing an ADU definition and permitting accessory dwelling units by right in all one-family residential districts subject to standards.
Effect: Hampton became one of the most ADU-friendly cities in Hampton Roads; SUP and rezoning are no longer required for compliant ADUs in R-districts.
Known issues (2)
- other — NFIP flood insurance is mandatory on SFHA parcels; elevation requirements raise foundation and engineering cost; some parcels are not buildable for new dwellings.
- other — Property values in highest-noise contour zones are depressed and ADU livability may be affected; sound-attenuation construction is sometimes warranted.
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
- 23670
Post Office
- 809 Aberdeen Rd, 23670
Locale Names
- Hampton Va S&dc