Can I sell my ADU separately from my house in California?

Usually not. State law lets you rent an ADU separately but not sell it separately, unless your city or county has adopted an ordinance under AB 1033 allowing the house and ADU to become separate condominiums, or the property fits a narrow nonprofit affordable-housing exception. A JADU cannot be sold separately from the house.

The default rule

Government Code section 66314(d)(1) says an ADU may be rented separately from the primary residence but shall not be sold or otherwise conveyed separately, except as allowed in Article 4 (sections 66340 to 66342). JADUs require a recorded deed restriction prohibiting sale of the JADU separate from the single-family home (section 66333(c)).

Option 1: condominiums, where your city allows it

AB 1033 (2023, effective January 1, 2024) added section 66342, which lets a local agency adopt an ordinance allowing the primary dwelling and ADU to be conveyed separately as condominiums. It is optional, so it applies only where your city or county has adopted such an ordinance. Any such ordinance must require that:

• the condominiums be created under the Davis-Stirling Common Interest Development Act and the objective requirements of the Subdivision Map Act and local subdivision rules;
• a safety inspection of the ADU be completed before the condominium plan is recorded, shown by a certificate of occupancy or a housing quality standards report from a HUD-certified inspector;
• every lienholder consent before the subdivision map or condominium plan is recorded, and a lender may refuse;
• you notify your water, sewer, gas and electric providers of the condominium creation and separate conveyance; and
• if the property is in an existing planned development with an association, you get the association's express written authorization.

Option 2: the nonprofit exception

Section 66341 requires agencies to allow separate sale to a qualified low- or moderate-income buyer when the ADU or the main home was built or developed by a qualified nonprofit corporation, under a recorded tenancy-in-common agreement with long-term affordability restrictions and other conditions. This path is designed for nonprofit housing programs, not typical homeowners.

What this means for your MEP plans and permit set

Separate ownership changes how utilities work. For ADUs converted from existing space, state law normally bars utilities from requiring a new or separate connection, but that protection does not apply when the ADU is conveyed separately under section 66342, and under the nonprofit exception a utility can request separate water, sewer or electrical connections. If a condominium split is a real possibility, talk through separate meters, independent electrical services, and sewer and water lines that do not cross from one unit to the other with your designer, your utilities and your attorney before plans are drawn, because retrofitting later is harder. See separate electrical meters, separate water meters, and California ADU requirements. Ask your planning department whether it has adopted a condominium ordinance.

Sources: leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, leginfo.legislature.ca.gov, hcd.ca.gov.