Mayor Adams Announces New Tools To Help New Yorkers Add Accessory Homes, Build Generational Wealth, And Continue To Remain In Their Communities

August 5, 2024

Watch the video here at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3KrWNdyTyY

Adams Administration Announces $4 Million Grant to Support Accessory Dwelling Unit Pilot and One-Stop Shop Online Portal for Interested Homeowners 

Announcement Comes as Adams Administration Addresses Housing Crisis with “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” Proposal to Produce as Many as 108,850 New Homes Over 15 Years, Including by Legalizing Accessory Dwelling Units 

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams today announced multiple new tools to help New York City homeowners create accessory dwelling units (ADUs) that will not only help them to afford to remain in the communities they call home, but also to build generational wealth for families. ADUs are defined as any secondary independent unit on the same property as a primary home, including backyard cottages and basement apartments with separate entrances. The new tools include a one-stop shop portal to remove bureaucratic red tape and new a $4 million grant funding to support an ADU pilot program. ADUs are a proven solution to create critically-needed housing as the city faces a historic housing affordability and shortage crisis. Today’s announcement comes as the Adams administration aims to address the housing crisis with the “City of Yes for Housing Opportunity” proposal, which aims to produce as many as 108,850 new homes over 15 years, including by legalizing ADUs. 

“For our seniors fighting to stay in the neighborhoods they call home or young people struggling to find a living space, accessory dwelling units can be a lifeline to stable, affordable housing,” said Mayor Adams. “For too long, our policies have lived in the past and ignored the present: We are facing a generational housing crisis. The only solution is to build more and make it easier, not harder, for homeowners to join government in addressing this crisis head on. Together, we can build our way towards a better future, but that must include saying ‘yes’ to ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity’ and legalizing accessory dwelling units.” 

“From seniors struggling to age in place, to young families stretching to pay the mortgage, adding a small backyard cottage or basement apartment can be life changing,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “Through ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,’ we're making is easier for homeowners to earn extra income or provide space for multi-generational families. And by giving homeowners who add a new unit the full support of government, we are going to give New York families even more opportunity for homeownership and to build intergenerational wealth.” 

“As we continue to push for more innovative, safe, and smart solutions to confront the housing crisis head-on, our work on ADUs stands out as a good tool for creating more housing in every neighborhood,” said New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. “The HPD pilot loan program provides support for homeowners to build a little more housing in their household. Paired with new flexible zoning, pre-approved plans, and a one-stop shop resource center, these tools will help all New Yorkers — from older adults aging in place to young adults to families looking to stay in the city.” 

“New Yorkers feel the impact of our housing crisis every day, from seniors who are unable to stay in the communities they helped build to young families looking to purchase their first home,” said New York City Department of City Planning (DCP) Director Dan Garodnick. “Accessory homes are a proven solution to help provide space for a loved one or caretaker, or to bring in extra income — all without significant change to a neighborhood’s character. That’s why legalizing ADUs is a component of our proposal to enable a little more housing in every neighborhood.” 

“The Adams administration is committed to creating safe, affordable housing in our city,” said New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) Commissioner Jimmy Oddo. “DOB is working closely with our partner agencies, so that when changes are made to city regulations, we can continue to maintain a streamlined and consistent construction application process for new projects. New Yorkers have come to expect high levels of efficiency from their government and pairing new policy proposals with holistic toolkits for property owners helps deliver on those expectations."  

“To build our way out of a generational affordable housing crisis, our city needs to explore every option, every space, and every neighborhood to deliver the relief New Yorkers need,” said New York City Executive Director of Housing Leila Bozorg. “Whether you are first-time homeowner searching for extra income or an older adult who has called New York City home for generations, accessory dwelling units are a proven solution to create affordable housing. Today, our administration proudly says ‘yes’ to accessory dwelling units and we urge all of our partners to join us as we build a better, more affordable city for all.” 

“We applaud Mayor Adams’ deep commitment and ongoing efforts to make New York City more affordable and livable for New Yorkers of all ages,” said New York City Department for the Aging Commissioner Lorraine Cortés-Vázquez. “‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity’ advances commonsense zoning reforms —including the modernization of antiquated rules around accessory dwelling units — that will allow older adults to age in-place and enable them to create living arrangements to remain close to extended family and friends.” 

“Every day, New Yorkers struggle with our city's housing shortage, which hits older adults especially hard,” said AARP New York State Director Beth Finkel. “Many older New Yorkers live on fixed incomes and struggle to pay rent. Without an increase in affordable housing options, older New Yorkers and their caregivers — whose help is crucial to allow older adults to age in place and live independently — will struggle to remain in the city. As the city’s population continues to age, these concerns are likely to grow. We need to implement policies to ensure we have appropriate and affordable housing for older New Yorkers now and in the future. Allowing accessory dwelling units will give older New Yorkers the freedom to downsize, supplement their income, and live near their loved ones or caregivers. Let's ensure that older New Yorkers can age in place and continue to contribute to making New York City great.” 

“New York is unlocking housing potential of all shapes and sizes,” said New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas. “By enacting a $4 million pilot program to legalize ADUs and supporting the creation of new units through the Plus One ADU program, we are helping communities increase the affordable housing supply. We thank our partners in the Adams administration and HPD as we work together to address the housing crisis."

ADUs have been shown to help homeowners provide a living space for loved ones or caretakers, bring in extra income, or provide extra space for families to grow, without significantly changing the look and feel of the neighborhood they are built in. In an AARP survey of people age 50 and older, seven in 10 respondents said they would consider building an ADU for a loved one who needs care. 

The Plus One ADU pilot program provides up to $395,000 in funding to qualified homeowners through HPD and grant funding from New York State Homes and Community Renewal to build or convert an ADU on their property. Additionally, the program provides homeowners with financial and technical support, including predevelopment and construction resources. First launched in 2023, in its first two months, the pilot heard from more than 2,800 homeowners with nearly 80 percent of applicants reporting they were interested in improving their family’s finances or housing a family member with an ADU. The additional funding will allow up to 35 homeowners to add or convert a secondary home, as permitted under current zoning and building codes. To allow even more homeowners to benefit from an ADU, City of Yes for Housing Opportunity would permit one- or two-family homes in New York City to add an accessory dwelling unit of up to 800 square feet, while adhering to building code and other city and state regulations. 

The administration also announced plans to create a “one-stop shop” of resources to help New Yorkers add an ADU to their properties, including step-by-step guides to help homeowners navigate the ADU process. This resource will include, for the first time in New York City’s history, a library of pre-approved designs, which will streamline permit approvals for safe accessory homes and lower costs for homeowners. New York’s pre-approved ADU design library will follow proven models in cities like Los Angeles and Eugene. 

The Adams administration is in the middle of public review for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, the most pro-housing zoning proposal in New York City’s history. DCP estimates that the Adams administration’s City of Yes plan could produce as many as 108,850 new homes over the next 15 years. In addition to the City of Yes plan, DCP is advancing several robust plans that, if adopted, would deliver more than 50,000 units over the next 15 years in the Metro North station area in the Bronx, Central Brooklyn, Midtown South in Manhattan, and Long Island City and Jamaica in Queens.  

Since the start of his administration, Mayor Adams has made record investments towards creating and preserving affordable housing. Last week, Mayor Adams announced back-to-back record breaking years in both creating and connecting New Yorkers to affordable housing. In June, the Adams administration delivered an on-time, balanced, and fiscally-responsible $112.4 billion Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Adopted Budget that invests $2 billion in capital funds across FY25 and FY26 to HPD and NYCHA’s capital budgets. In total, the Adams administration has committed a record $26 billion in housing capital in the current 10-year plan as the city faces a general housing crisis. Last month, Mayor Adams and others announced a landmark $500 million investment from the Battery Park City Authority’s Joint Purpose Fund to build and maintain affordable housing. This spring, thanks to Mayor Adams’ vision and leadership, the city celebrated the largest 100 percent affordable housing project in 40 years with the Willets Point Transformation. 

Further, the Adams administration is using every tool available to address the city’s housing crisis. Earlier this year, Mayor Adams and members of the administration successfully advocated for new tools in the 2024 New York state budget that will spur the creation of urgently needed housing. These tools include a new tax incentive for multifamily rental construction, a tax incentive program to encourage office conversions to create more affordable units, lifting the arbitrary “floor-to-area ratio” cap that held back affordable housing production in certain high-demand areas of the city, and the ability to create a pilot program to legalize and make safe basement apartments.  

Under Mayor Adams’ leadership, the city is fulfilling its 2024 State of the City commitment to build more affordable housing, including being ahead of schedule on advancing two dozen affordable housing projects on city-owned land this year through the “24 in ‘24” initiative, reopening the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program waitlist after being closed to general applications for nearly 15 years, and creating the Tenant Protection Cabinet to coordinate across agencies to better serve tenants. The city has also taken several steps to cut red tape and speed up the delivery of much-needed housing, including through the “Green Fast Track for Housing,” a streamlined environmental review process for qualifying small- and medium-sized housing projects; the “Office Conversion Accelerator,” an interagency effort to guide buildings that wish to convert through city bureaucracy; and other initiatives of the Building and Land Use Approval Streamlining Taskforce. 

“My support for City of Yes for Housing Opportunity is contingent upon the legalization of ADUs for good reason,” said Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso. “ADUs are a straightforward method to add new density with minimal impacts to neighborhoods’ look and feel; they encourage a more equitable distribution of new housing growth across the city; and they can offer relief from financial pressures on homeowners who wish to create housing options for relatives or children, increase property value, and generate additional rental income. ADUs are a critical part of a comprehensive approach to increasing housing supply in every neighborhood, and I am glad to see Mayor Adams put funding into an ADU pilot program and support interested homeowners with an online portal.” 

“Reaching our moonshot goal of 500,000 new affordable housing units in a decade is one of my top priorities for this city,” said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “In Albany, I fought to pass legislation to finance the pilot program Plus One ADU, and now Mayor Adams and DCP Commissioner Garodnick are putting it into action. At a time when half of tenants are rent burdened and there is a 1.4 percent vacancy rate, we must be creative and utilize every square inch of available space for affordable housing, including building accessory dwelling units.  That is why today, we are launching a historic $4 million program empowering homeowners with capital and an expedited process for building or renovating ADUs. This will create thousands of housing units, while giving homeowners new sources of income. It is one of many tools we are implementing to ensure every New Yorker has a home.” 

“Regional Planning Association’s Be My Neighbor report found that the type of common-sense land use changes proposed by City of Yes are key to a scalable accessory dwelling unit program,” said Moses Gates, vice president, housing and neighborhood planning, Regional Plan Association. “Passing this and investing in the Plus One Pilot program will help build new homes for New Yorkers, allow families to accumulate equity, and is a big step toward solving our housing crisis.” 

“We strongly support the legalization and creation of accessory dwelling units in New York City as they serve a dual purpose of increasing the stock of quality, affordable housing while providing supplemental income to low- and moderate-income homeowners who want to remain in their homes and communities,” said Salvatore D’Avola, executive director, Restored Homes, Housing Development Fund Corporation. “Providing new tools and incentives to encourage homeowners to participate in the Plus One ADU Program will certainly act as a catalyst in expanding the pool of interested homeowners. We continue to be proud of our participation in the pilot program and thankful to our partners, including the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and New York State Homes and Community Renewal for their continued commitment to this effort.” 

“Safely expanding ADUs not only increases affordable housing, but it also helps stabilize entire neighborhoods by enabling low- and middle-income households to accommodate loved ones, strengthen household finances, increase home values, and preserve generational wealth,” said Christie Peale, CEO and executive director, Center for NYC Neighborhoods, Inc. “These new resources will allow homeowners to safely plan and expand their living spaces through ADUs, support family members, and afford to stay in their communities for generations to come.” 

"In the face of our unprecedented housing affordability crisis, the introduction of accessory dwelling units is a beacon of hope for New Yorkers,” said Sabrina Lippman, CEO, Habitat for Humanity New York City and Westchester County. These units provide much needed additional housing as well as enable homeowners to generate supplemental income, build generational wealth, and support family members in need. Habitat NYC and Westchester is proud to support initiatives that empower our communities to thrive and remain in the neighborhoods they love. This comprehensive approach from Mayor Adams' administration is a significant step towards creating a more equitable and sustainable future for all." 

“Accessory dwelling units are an essential part of the city's housing stock, and this initiative will significantly expand safe, affordable housing options for New Yorkers as we try to address our housing crisis,” said Brendan Cheney, director of policy and operations, New York Housing Conference. “We must pass the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, which will help ensure New Yorkers can access the types of housing that best suit them and their needs, including ADUs. Following the mayor's $2 billion commitment to housing in this year's city capital budget, today's announcement is another crucial step toward a comprehensive solution to our urgent housing needs.” 

“As we’ve seen across the country, from the smallest towns to the biggest cities, ADUs are a proven policy that addresses the housing crisis without dramatically changing neighborhoods,” said Andrew Fine, policy director and chief of staff, Open New York. “They’re a critical resource for multi-generational families, a source of income for homeowners struggling with their mortgages, and an important driver of affordable housing opportunities in areas where they are lacking. ADUs are an essential component of ‘City of Yes,’ and will help fulfill its mission to add a little more housing in every neighborhood in NYC.” 

“Adding a small unit to a small home is a big opportunity to diversify our housing supply and help owners of small homes get by — whether it's to accommodate their children, age-in-place, or generate rental income,” said Howard Slatkin, executive director, Citizen Housing & Planning Council. “We are heartened to see the city take multiple actions needed to support flexible use of small homes that meets homeowners’ and residents’ needs. This includes not just the reforms in City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, but also creating a ‘one-stop shop’ to support individual homeowners and increased funding for the Plus One pilot program.” 

“The potential benefits of legalizing and supporting the creation of accessory dwelling units are numerous and well known. ADUs help keep intergenerational families together to provide networks of care; they provide supplemental income to aging homeowners; and they can help create more affordable options on the market for first-time renters,” said Aaron Carr, founder and executive director, Housing Rights Initiative. “We at Housing Rights Initiative applaud this effort to provide both the funding and technical support that people need to unlock new housing opportunities right under our noses with already existing buildings. By enabling the creation of new housing units that won’t drastically change the look or feel of their neighborhoods, these new tools align perfectly with the ‘City of Yes’ vision of adding ‘a little bit of housing in every neighborhood.’” 

“Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation commends the Adams administration for its commitment to providing both financial resources and streamlined administrative support to assist homeowners in creating accessory dwelling units, in particular basement apartments,” said Ryan Chavez, director, Small Homes Programs, Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation. “As the home of the city’s Basement Apartment Conversion Pilot Program, Cypress Hills and East New York knows firsthand the significant demand for programs that simplify the legalization of basement apartments. We are also acutely aware of the bureaucratic and financial challenges homeowners face under the current system. Today's announcement is a meaningful step towards lowering some of the key barriers to legalizing basement apartments, making it easier for homeowners to create safe, legal, and affordable housing options in their communities.” 

“Our agency has advised local governments to consider zoning code changes that encourage greater density and availability of housing in tandem with preserving historic buildings, including allowing housing in areas where it is now prohibited,” said Sara C. Bronin, chair, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation. “Our recent policy statement on Housing and Historic Preservation identified accessory dwelling units as a critical tool for expanding housing options because they enable existing homeowners to earn income contributing to their mortgage or to home repairs, to accommodate multiple generations, and to stay in their chosen neighborhood.  We applaud the administration’s efforts to leverage the city’s historic built environment to support housing.”

“We applaud Mayor Adams and the Department of City Planning for their continued commitment to tackling our city’s housing crisis by enabling critical tools to build more housing throughout the city, create generational wealth building opportunities, and provide homeowners with the necessary support to maximize their property’s potential,” said Jesse Lazar, executive director, American Institute of Architects New York. “The additional funding for the Plus One ADU pilot program and the development of accessible resources for homeowners to add an ADU to their properties, in conjunction with the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning text amendment will allow more homeowners to take advantage of ADUs and utilize this critical tool to their advantage.”