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PAGE 8 IDAHO SENIOR INDEPENDENT • OCTOBER / NOVEMBER 2021

Is a Granny Flat in Your Future?

ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS IN THE TIME OF A HOUSING CRISIS

buyers to the Mountain West, where hous-
ing prices are more affordable, and outdoor
amenities beckon at the back door.
The downside: a housing affordability
crisis in the midst of a pandemic in the
middle of a housing and labor shortage.
That’s why policymakers are exploring
ways to quickly build more affordable hous-
ing and rental units to add to a depleted
stock, and they’re examining such alter-
natives as ADUs, or the clunkily named
Accessory Dwelling Units.
A BUILDING DEMAND
Sometimes called “mother-in-law
suites,” backyard cottages, or, quaintly,
“granny flats,” ADUs are defined by
Missoula, for instance, as “small interior
apartments or backyard houses that share
a parcel with a single-family residence.”
An accessory use to the principal use of a
property, ADUs are typically no larger than
600 to 700 square feet, sometimes require
an on-site parking space, and are usually
ADUs are typically no larger than 600 to 700 square feet, sometimes require an on-site parking space, and are
usually limited to one or two bedrooms. They’ve become more popular as housing supplies have dwindled. limited to one or two bedrooms.
Pictured here an ADU designed by Harka Architecture of Portland, Ore. Photo courtesy Harka Architecture. They’ve become more popular as hous-
ing supplies have dwindled, but still can
all income and age ranges. And it’s exac- prompt backlash from neighbors who don’t
BY BILL LOMBARDI erbated by a pandemic, which has allowed want their neighborhoods to become havens
more Americans to work from home, freeing for commercialized vacation rental units.
Montana and Idaho are experiencing a them to live anywhere and drive Treasure “I think if I was going to tell people in
crushing boom that has exploded hundreds, and Gem state real estate prices into the other communities what we’ve learned,
if not thousands, of residents’ dreams to Big Sky. you don’t need to be scared of them,”
buy their first home or downsize and move Idaho and Montana ranked in the top says Bozeman’s Community Development
into a smaller unit or condo. five states for strongest housing economies Director Martin Matsen. “In my opin-
The housing crisis isn’t picky—it’s in the first quarter of 2021, according to ion, any unit is a good unit. We just need
affecting Montanans and Idahoans across a Bankrate analysis. Idaho’s home prices housing.”
soared nearly 24 percent in the year end- EASING ADU RESTRICITONS TO MEET DEMAND
STUBBY LAKE SMOKE SHOP ing March 31, 2021, while Montana home With its land-grant university, burgeon-
prices jumped 15 percent in the past year, ing tech sector, and access to the Yellowstone
396610 HWY 95, PLUMMER, ID the financial website said in its national ecosystem’s recreational opportunities,
(208) 686-9313 housing survey. Bozeman is Montana’s fastest-growing

Call Ahead for Special Orders MONTANA HOUSING CRISIS city (43 percent growth rate from 2010 to
All Customers are Important! Mid-sized metropolitan areas, such as 2020) while Gallatin County led the state’s
Boise, Billings, Bozeman, and Missoula, have counties in population growth at 33 percent.
Mon–Sat 8AM–5PM witnessed the march of urban high-wage
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