Nashville building & ADU permits
Recent permit activity, updated continuously.
Nashville, Tennessee's capital, regulates ADUs locally, but Metro Nashville's open data goes a step further than most: it carries a dedicated 'Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit' subtype. Igni reads that structured flag directly, making Nashville one of its strongest sources for cleanly identified ADU permits.
Igni is tracking 6,209 residential and building permits in Nashville, TN — including 245 classified accessory-dwelling-unit (ADU) filings. The most active ZIP is 37203. The most recent filing Igni tracked was Nov 2, 2026. All records come from Metro Nashville ArcGIS open data (Esri), an official government open-data feed, and are refreshed continuously.
6209
Permits tracked
245
ADU permits
28
Distinct ZIP codes
Nov 2, 2026
Newest permit
Recent permits
A sample of the freshest permits in this jurisdiction — ZIP and city only (no street addresses).
| ZIP | Permit type | ADU type | Valuation | Applied |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37209 | Residential | — | $121,786 | Oct 8, 2026 |
| 37217 | Residential | — | $66,000 | Oct 23, 2026 |
| 37206 | Residential | Detached ADU | $76,176 | Oct 22, 2026 |
| 37221 | Residential | — | $14,299 | Oct 21, 2026 |
| 37204 | Residential | — | $131,136 | Oct 2, 2026 |
| 37221 | Residential | — | $15,888 | Oct 19, 2026 |
| 37218 | Commercial | — | $2,000 | Sep 25, 2026 |
| 37115 | Commercial | — | $5,034 | Oct 13, 2026 |
| 37215 | Commercial | — | $41,977 | Oct 8, 2026 |
| 37115 | Commercial | — | $1 | Oct 16, 2026 |
| 37072 | Commercial | — | $2,000 | Oct 14, 2026 |
| 37209 | Commercial | — | $37,900 | Oct 13, 2026 |
| 37205 | Residential | — | $244,842 | Oct 7, 2026 |
| 37207 | Commercial | — | $10 | Oct 5, 2026 |
| 37214 | Commercial | — | $500 | Sep 29, 2026 |
| 37212 | Residential | — | $55,000 | Sep 10, 2026 |
| 37209 | Commercial | — | $2,000,000 | Sep 10, 2026 |
| 37211 | Commercial | — | $351,989 | Sep 8, 2026 |
| 37205 | Residential | — | $19,000 | Sep 20, 2026 |
| 37204 | Residential | — | $27,539 | Oct 21, 2026 |
Top ZIP codes by recent activity
ADU types in the recent set
Permit activity in Nashville
Igni counted 10,005 permits issued in Nashville over the last 12 months (Oct 2025 – Sep 2026) — up 1.2% on the 9,883 in the 12 months before. The forecast expects about 5,004 over the next 6 months.
Forecast: trailing mean, typical error ±10% in backtests one to six months ahead. How we forecast
| Permit type | Last 12 months | Year over year | Forecast, next 6 months |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 10,005 | Up 1.2% | ≈ 5,004 |
| Residential building | 6,423 | Flat (+0.9%) | ≈ 2,917 |
| Commercial building | 2,724 | Up 19.6% | ≈ 1,362 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 761 | Down 31.1% | — |
| ADU | 300 | Up 42.9% | — |
Monthly figures
| Month | Permits | 10th–90th percentile |
|---|---|---|
| Oct 2023 | 829 | — |
| Nov 2023 | 699 | — |
| Dec 2023 | 621 | — |
| Jan 2024 | 716 | — |
| Feb 2024 | 817 | — |
| Mar 2024 | 753 | — |
| Apr 2024 | 942 | — |
| May 2024 | 934 | — |
| Jun 2024 | 765 | — |
| Jul 2024 | 904 | — |
| Aug 2024 | 818 | — |
| Sep 2024 | 694 | — |
| Oct 2024 | 833 | — |
| Nov 2024 | 650 | — |
| Dec 2024 | 782 | — |
| Jan 2025 | 886 | — |
| Feb 2025 | 734 | — |
| Mar 2025 | 875 | — |
| Apr 2025 | 888 | — |
| May 2025 | 827 | — |
| Jun 2025 | 920 | — |
| Jul 2025 | 850 | — |
| Aug 2025 | 776 | — |
| Sep 2025 | 862 | — |
| Oct 2025 | 910 | — |
| Nov 2025 | 665 | — |
| Dec 2025 | 841 | — |
| Jan 2026 | 608 | — |
| Feb 2026 | 795 | — |
| Mar 2026 | 992 | — |
| Apr 2026 | 840 | — |
| May 2026 | 778 | — |
| Jun 2026 | 863 | — |
| Jul 2026 | 868 | — |
| Aug 2026 | 900 | — |
| Sep 2026 | 945 | — |
| Oct 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 834 | 632–992 |
| Nov 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 834 | 633–980 |
| Dec 2026 (forecast) | ≈ 834 | 621–987 |
| Jan 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 834 | 741–990 |
| Feb 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 834 | 778–996 |
| Mar 2027 (forecast) | ≈ 834 | 779–1,000 |
Counts are permits issued per calendar month as Nashville publishes them to its open-data feed — not a complete census; a change in what the city publishes moves them too. The current month is left out, and the most recent months are provisional. A forecast is a statistical estimate with a range, not a prediction for any project. Informational only.
How long do permits take in Nashville?
Based on 26,147 Nashville permits applied for between Nov 2023 and Aug 2026, the typical (median) permit was issued 29 days after application, and the middle half of permits took 12–67 days. One in ten took longer than 147 days.
| Permit type | Median | Typical range | Permits |
|---|---|---|---|
| All permits | 29 days | 12–67 days | 26,147 |
| Residential building | 25 days | 11–52 days | 16,812 |
| Commercial building | 61 days | 28–132 days | 6,401 |
| Trade (electrical, plumbing, mechanical) | 12 days | 4–28 days | 2,620 |
| ADU | 42 days | 20–83 days | 614 |
Typical, not guaranteed: individual permits vary with project scope, application completeness and plan-review workload. Days are calendar days from application to issuance; applications still pending are counted as not-yet-issued rather than dropped. Informational only, not legal advice. How we calculate approval times.
Housing law — Tennessee
Accessory dwelling units in Tennessee are regulated locally; there is no statewide ADU mandate, so rules vary by city and county.
Tennessee has no statewide upzoning law; residential density is set by local zoning, with Nashville pursuing its own reforms.
Nashville ADU rules
Nashville regulates accessory dwelling units through Metro's detached accessory dwelling unit (DADU) ordinance. A late-2025 overhaul (Ordinance BL2025-1007, effective December 12, 2025) made DADUs allowed by right across the Urban Services District — Nashville's urban core — ending the prior parcel-by-parcel overlay process there; in the outer General Services District, a DADU still generally requires a DADU overlay or an equivalent zoning approval.
Unlike many cities, Nashville retains an owner-occupancy requirement: the DADU and the principal house must be under common ownership, and one of the two dwellings must be owner-occupied. The newer ordinance also restricts short-term rental of DADUs in single-family zones. A DADU is the code-defined detached unit (one per qualifying single-family parcel), with size limits that scale by lot — generally a few hundred up to roughly 1,200 square feet and never larger than the principal structure — plus eave, ridge, and setback standards in Metro Code.
The DADU framework originated with Substitute Ordinance BL2015-1120, which created the original opt-in overlay; the 2025 ordinance is the current controlling law. Note that a DADU permit in Nashville must be pulled by a registered contractor rather than self-permitted.
This is an informational summary — verify current rules with the city's planning/permitting department; not legal advice.
See also: Tennessee ADU law and what is an ADU?
Data source
Sourced from Metro Nashville ArcGIS open data (Esri). Public domain (Metro Open Data EO #32).
Nearby cities — Tennessee
Learn more about ADUs & building permits
Background reading on accessory dwelling units, building permits, and how Igni turns Nashville permit records into leads.
Nashville permit data — FAQ
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Does Nashville allow accessory dwelling units (ADUs)?
Get permit leads — Nashville
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Informational only, not legal advice. Headline counts reflect all permits Igni has tracked for this jurisdiction; the table shows recent activity. Housing law changes — verify current statutes before relying on this.