More Than 2,000 ADUs Approved under Governor Healey’s Housing Bill

More Than 2,000 ADUs Approved under Governor Healey’s Housing Bill

854 permits approved during the first half of 2026 as Governor Healey expands support for homeowners

BOSTON – The Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced that municipalities across Massachusetts have approved 854 accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, during the first six months of 2026, building on strong early momentum following the signing of Governor Healey’s Affordable Homes Act and bringing the statewide total to 2,084 approved ADUs since the start of 2025. 

“We wanted to make it easier for homeowners to build ADUs because we knew they were an effective tool for building the type of housing people need and lowering costs,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We're seeing homeowners across Massachusetts take advantage of this new opportunity, whether it's creating space for aging parents, helping adult children stay close to home, earning rental income or adding another home in their community. We're working to build on this early progress by giving homeowners more of the practical tools they need to get these projects built.”

“Homeowners told us they wanted the process to be simpler, and that's exactly what we're doing,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “With free designs, technical assistance and affordable financing, we're making it easier for people to turn an idea into a completed home. That's good for families, good for neighborhoods and good for addressing our housing needs.”

70 percent of communities in Massachusetts have approved at least one ADU and an updated interactive map tracking ADU applications and approvals is available at Mass.gov/ADUtracker. The top 10 communities for ADU approvals since the start of 2025 are:

Community  (Excluding Boston)	Approved ADUs
Lowell	53
Somerville	50
Plymouth	49
Lawrence	46
Revere	46
Worcester	40
Nantucket	39
Billerica	24
Methuen	24
Milton	24

“Surpassing 2,000 approvals is a strong early result and clear evidence of what can happen when we remove unnecessary barriers and allow ADUs by right,” said Housing and Livable Communities Secretary Juana Matias. “The programs we launched this year address the next set of barriers homeowners face, including design, early project planning and financing. Together, they will build on this momentum and make it even easier for homeowners to turn their plans into completed homes.”

ADUs, also known as in-law apartments, are small, independent homes located on the same lot as another home. They may be created within an existing home, built as an addition or constructed as a separate structure. ADUs can provide space for aging parents, adult children, caregivers or people with disabilities. They can also provide homeowners with supplemental rental income and add new rental opportunities within existing neighborhoods.

Before the Affordable Homes Act, Massachusetts had no consistent statewide standard for ADU zoning and permitting. A patchwork of requirements, including owner-occupancy restrictions, restrictive size limits, subjective design reviews and discretionary approvals, often made ADUs difficult or impossible to build.

The Affordable Homes Act created a consistent statewide standard allowing one ADU up to 900 square feet (or no larger than half the gross floor area of the principal dwelling) to be built by right on lots located in single-family zoning districts, subject to reasonable local requirements. Boston has separate zoning authority and its own ADU rules.

New Resources for Homeowners

To help more homeowners move from initial interest to construction, the Healey-Driscoll Administration has launched new programs addressing three common barriers to building an ADU: design, early project planning and financing. All resources can be found in one location at Mass.gov/ADU.

Free designs through the ADU Design Challenge

Homeowners can now browse and download free designs selected through the administration’s ADU Design Challenge. The designs include a range of sizes, layouts and construction approaches that homeowners can use as a starting point when planning an ADU.

ADU feasibility support through MHP

The Massachusetts Housing Partnership’s ADU Incentive Program helps property owners take the first step in determining whether they can build an ADU on their property. The program connects homeowners with professionals who can assess factors such as site conditions, zoning, utility needs, preliminary design considerations and potential construction costs.

Affordable construction financing through MassHousing

The MassHousing ADU Loan Program provides fixed-rate second mortgage financing of up to $250,000 for detached ADUs and up to $150,000 for attached ADUs. The program serves eligible homeowners who have completed design and permitting and are ready to begin construction.

Online interactive ADU tools

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC) also launched a Massachusetts ADU Resource Center at MyMassADU.org in May. Homeowners that are interested in building an ADU on their property can read through a step-by-step guide, enter their address into the ADU Wizard tool to drop a design of an ADU on their property, then enter info like property value and home equity into a calculator to see what financing they might be eligible for. 

Homeowners in the Pioneer Valley can then take advantage of the Pioneer Valley ADU Accelerator Pilot program, also run by the MassCEC, to obtain technical support for building detached, modular, all-electric ADUs in Hampden, Hampshire and Franklin counties.  

Residents interested in building an ADU should contact their city or town’s building or inspectional services department to learn about local permitting requirements. Additional information about the statewide law and resources for homeowners and municipalities is available at mass.gov/ADU.

Building More Homes and Bringing Down Costs

The ADU reporting is part of the administration’s broader effort to improve how Massachusetts measures and reports housing production. The administration recently launched the new housing production tracker, which provides a consistent statewide measure of net housing growth and allows the public to view housing production data for every city and town.

Since taking office, Governor Healey has focused on expanding pathways to homeownership, increasing housing production and lowering costs. Her administration has advanced new efforts to help first-time homebuyers, including expanding down payment assistance and lowering mortgage rates to make it easier for Massachusetts residents to buy their first home. 

To build more homes, she has taken action to speed up the permitting process, turn state land into thousands of new homes, convert downtown commercial space into apartments and create a first-in-the-nation fund to finance mixed-income development in a time of high interest rates. Governor Healey has also banned mandatory renter-paid broker fees, gave seniors up to $2,800 a year to help with housing costs, and expanded home inspection protections.