Arizona residential & ADU permit data

Arizona joined the statewide-reform states with House Bill 2720, signed in May 2024. The law requires municipalities with more than 75,000 residents to allow accessory dwelling units in single-family residential zones — at least one attached and one detached ADU per lot — and it gave those cities until January 1, 2025 to adopt conforming rules. A city that missed that deadline must allow ADUs on all of its single-family residential lots until it complies, a strong default that pushed slower cities to act, and by 2026 the by-right standards were largely folded into local codes.

The statute targets the standard local barriers. Cities generally may not impose an owner-occupancy requirement for a long-term rental ADU; an owner-occupancy condition is permitted only where the ADU is used as a short-term or vacation rental. The law also limits the setback, size and design standards a city can apply, and for larger parcels of one acre or more it requires an additional detached ADU to be allowed if at least one of the units is set aside as a restricted-affordable dwelling.

HB 2720 was paired with HB 2721 (2024), Arizona's 'middle housing' law, which requires the same larger cities to allow duplexes through fourplexes and townhomes by right near central business districts, with compliance generally by January 1, 2026. A separate 'Starter Homes Act' aimed at lot-size minimums did not become law — it was vetoed in 2024 and stalled afterward — so the ADU and middle-housing bills are the core of the state's reform.

Arizona's design is closest to Colorado's: a statewide guarantee aimed at the larger cities rather than every municipality, which distinguishes it from Montana's all-cities approach and from California's fully ministerial regime. Igni sources live Tempe permit data from the city's ArcGIS open-data portal under CC BY 4.0 (© City of Tempe), plus Phoenix, Tucson and Mesa, so new ADU and middle-housing permits surface as the 2024 reforms take hold across the largest Sun Belt metros.

This is an informational summary, not legal advice; the mandate applies to cities over 75,000 and each local implementing code controls the details, so verify the current rules before relying on it.