BOISE, Idaho — The City of Boise is providing eight free, pre-approved accessory dwelling unit plans to help homeowners save time and money while creating more affordable housing options.
WATCH: How City of Boise hopes to meet affordable housing needs
Accessory dwelling units, or ADUs, are secondary homes on the same property as a primary house. They can include everything found in a traditional home, from a kitchen and bathroom to heating and cooling systems.
"It's built and engineered to all the same exact specs as a regular home," Kole Bailey said.
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Kole Bailey is the owner of Mode Homes, a company that designs and builds ADUs. The big difference is that ADUs are much smaller and can be built in a backyard, along an alley, or even above a garage. Bailey said they can be a win-win for tenants and property owners.
"You're taking advantage of land that you already own to build wealth and to give your residents in the city a new place to live in the most desirable neighborhoods," added Bailey.
But building one is not always easy. The design and approval process takes time and money.
"If you're designing an ADU from scratch and going through that permitting process, that could take months and months and thousands if not tens of thousands of dollars," said Kayla Duclos, an urban designer with the City of Boise.
To help speed that process up, the city created eight free, pre-approved ADU plans ranging from 280 to 695 square feet.
Bailey said the plans are a step in the right direction, but they may not work for everyone.
"I think they're awesome. I think that a lot of those plans are on the smaller side. A lot of our clients want to kind of maximize their space and rental potential, so they tend to go bigger than maybe what the Boise City plans are," Bailey said.
Homeowners can still customize things like materials and finishes, even when using a pre-approved design.
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And for some, building an ADU comes with the unexpected benefit of building a neighborhood.
"We typically end up becoming friends with our tenants, so there is a little bit of separation there, but through kind of common ground, it really is just creating a community," Bailey said.
You can find the city's free pre-approved ADU plans here.
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