ADU Pass
Richmond
Richmond city portion
Also in: Hanover County · Henrico County · No County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Richmond, Richmond city, Virginia navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. This area covers 6 ZIP codes.
ADU details
ADU legality: allowed-with-restrictions
Richmond opened a by-right ADU pathway in September 2023 in every residential zoning district. The principal frictions are CAR (Commission of Architectural Review) approval for the city's many local historic districts (Church Hill, Fan, Jackson Ward, Monument Avenue, Shockoe Bottom) and James River SFHA elevation requirements for waterfront and Shockoe Bottom / Manchester parcels.
Cost scenarios
| Scenario | Sq ft | Permit | Build | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| minimum | 200 | $3,600 | $60,200 | $63,800 |
| 600 | 600 | $3,600 | $180,600 | $184,200 |
| 1000 | 1,000 | $3,600 | $301,000 | $304,600 |
Fee breakdown (as of 2026-05)
Permitting process
Viability (permitted uses)
- Long-term rental: yes Long-term rental of an ADU is fully permitted; Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act (Va. Code section 55.1-1200 et seq.) governs.
- Short-term rental: with-restrictions Richmond's September 2023 short-term-rental ordinance requires registration with the Commissioner of the Revenue and remittance of Richmond Transient Lodging Tax; STR of an ADU is permitted subject to registration. Richmond city STR rules are materially more permissive than surrounding Henrico's 60-day annual cap.
- Office rental: with-restrictions An ADU cannot operate as a standalone commercial office; the framework requires the ADU to be a dwelling. Home occupation permitted from within an ADU.
- Home office: yes Home occupation is permitted in residential districts subject to Richmond's home-occupation conditions (no on-site employees, no customer traffic, no exterior signage).
- Studio / workshop: yes Personal studio is a permitted accessory use to an ADU under the residential-use framework.
- Agriculture: with-restrictions Richmond is fully urbanized; agricultural use is generally not applicable. Urban-agriculture is regulated by separate ordinances.
- Relative support: yes Family / multigenerational ADU is fully by right under the September 2023 ordinance and is among the most common use patterns.
Contacts
Staff: Richmond Zoning Counter (Zoning Administrator / ADU intake) planninganddevelopment@rva.gov, Richmond Permits and Inspections (Building Official), Richmond Assessor of Real Estate (City Assessor's Office), Richmond Commission of Architectural Review (Historic Preservation Staff)
Utilities
- Water: Richmond Department of Public Utilities (city-owned) · 30d connect · $3,800
- Sewer: Richmond Department of Public Utilities (city-owned collection and treatment) · 35d connect · $5,200
- Electric: Dominion Energy Virginia · 21d connect · $2,300
- Gas: Richmond Gas Works (city-owned natural-gas distribution utility) · 21d connect · $1,700
Property values & taxes
Construction timeline
Realistic total: best 8mo · typical 12mo · worst 20mo
Modular pathway inspectors are experienced with modular
Financing
State ADU loans:
Insurance impact
HOA prevalence & preemption
Richmond's older urban neighborhoods (Fan, Church Hill, Museum District, Jackson Ward) typically have no HOAs; West End and Stratford Hills have some HOA-governed pockets. Newer Manchester redevelopment includes HOA-governed condominium properties.
Regulatory overlays (3)
- historic-district
Richmond's many locally-designated historic districts cover a substantial share of the single-family housing stock. CAR Certificate of Appropriateness is required for visible exterior changes; detached ADUs in these districts must be CAR-approved. (map) - flood-zone
James River frontage, Shockoe Bottom, and Manchester south-side parcels carry substantial FEMA SFHA exposure. Floodplain Development Permit and finished-floor-above-BFE elevation are required for ADUs on those parcels. (map) - wetland-overlay
Richmond is within the Tidewater CBPA. James River and tributary frontages carry RPA buffer designation; Water Quality Impact Assessment required for non-trivial site disturbance. (map)
Technical envelope (climate & building code)
Climate & energy code
Building code
Amendments:
- Amendment
- Amendment
Contractor market (aggregate)
Legal history (timeline)
Current ordinance: Richmond Code of Ordinances - Accessory Dwelling Units (Sec. 30-446 et seq.), adopted 2023-09-25, last amended 2023-09-25
- 2023-09-25 — Richmond City Council enacts by-right Accessory Dwelling Unit ordinance (city-ordinance)
Richmond City Council passed an ordinance authorizing one ADU by right in every residential zoning district. Size cap is the greater of 33% of the principal dwelling's floor area or 500 sqft.
Effect: Eliminated the prior Special Use Permit requirement; opened a by-right pathway and made investor-financed ADU construction citywide feasible for the first time. - 2023-09-25 — Richmond Short-Term Rental ordinance (companion bill) (city-ordinance)
Council adopted a companion STR ordinance requiring registration with the Commissioner of the Revenue and remittance of Richmond Transient Lodging Tax. STR of an ADU is permitted subject to that registration.
Effect: Richmond city STR allowances are materially more permissive than surrounding Henrico County (which caps STR at 60 days annually and requires hosted-only owner-primary-residence operations). - 2024-09-15 — Code Refresh comprehensive zoning rewrite kickoff (city-process)
Richmond Department of Planning and Development Review launched a comprehensive rewrite of the city zoning ordinance. Public outreach drafts include language permitting two dwellings or a duplex plus ADU on many residential parcels by right.
Effect: Targeted City Council vote spring 2026. If adopted, the rewrite would expand by-right multi-unit residential capacity beyond the 2023 ADU ordinance.
Known issues (2)
- other — Pre-application review is strongly advised throughout 2026 to determine whether a project is governed by the current 2023 ordinance or by the new comprehensive code.
- other — Total project timeline lengthens to 14-20 months for historic-district ADUs.
City of Richmond — county ADU rules and overlays
County ADU ordinance
Richmond permits accessory dwelling units in R-1 through R-7 residential districts subject to use-specific standards adopted in the Richmond 300 master plan implementation. ADUs are permitted by right in many residential districts with detached cap typically 800 sqft; attached internal ADUs cap by percentage of principal dwelling. Owner-occupancy is required for ADUs in certain configurations. Off-street parking requirements were significantly reduced in 2021. Historic district overlays (Church Hill, Jackson Ward, Monument Avenue, the Fan, Shockoe Bottom, Manchester) impose Architectural Review Commission review on visible exterior modifications.
County regulatory overlays
Richmond administers a dense overlay regime that bears materially on ADU projects: (1) Floodplain Management Overlay tied to FEMA SFHA along the James River, Gillies Creek, Reedy Creek, and Bacon Quarter Branch — substantial coverage in Shockoe Bottom, Manchester, and along the river corridor; (2) Old and Historic District overlays administered by the Commission of Architectural Review (Church Hill, Jackson Ward, Monument Avenue, Shockoe Slip, Shockoe Bottom, Manchester, Boulevard, West Grace Street, and others); (3) Chesapeake Bay Preservation Area RPA/RMA on James River frontage; (4) Richmond National Battlefield Park federal proximity affecting parcels near park boundaries; (5) the federally-designated Slavery and Freedom Heritage Site (Lumpkin's Slave Jail / Devil's Half-Acre archaeology).
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Because Richmond is an independent city (county-equivalent), there is no separate county permitting authority. The city handles all matters that would in a typical state involve both city and county. A typical ADU permit bundle includes a Zoning Permit, a Special Use Permit when required, a Building Permit, trade permits, a Department of Public Utilities (DPU) sewer connection where applicable, a Floodplain Development Permit on James River floodplain parcels, and Commission of Architectural Review approval if within an Old and Historic District.
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 Codes
- 23219
- 23220
- 23221
- 23224
- 23225
- 23226
Post Office
- 1021 Hioaks Rd, 23225
- 1645 W Broad St, 23220
- 1801 Brook Rd, 23232
- 2101 Hopkins Rd, 23224
- 805 Glenburnie Rd, 23226