Utah residential & ADU permit data

Utah's statewide ADU reform is narrower than the coastal mandates but real. House Bill 82 (2021), the 'Single-family Housing Modifications' act, makes an internal accessory dwelling unit — one built within the existing footprint of a single-family home — a permitted use in most areas zoned primarily for residential use. Because it is a permitted (not conditional) use, a city generally cannot force a discretionary public hearing or special permit for a conforming internal ADU; the homeowner applies through the ordinary building-permit process.

The law gives cities only limited room to carve out exceptions. A municipality may prohibit internal ADUs in no more than 25% of the area zoned primarily for residential use — raised to as much as 67% in a city that contains a state or private university with a student population of 10,000 or more, a provision aimed at managing concentrated student-rental pressure. Cities may still apply objective standards such as one off-street parking space and basic design, fire and safety rules.

Importantly, HB 82 reaches internal ADUs only. Detached backyard cottages and attached additions outside the existing footprint remain a matter of local zoning, so whether a separate structure is allowed still varies city to city along the Wasatch Front. The statute also removed the old statewide owner-occupancy mandate for internal units, but it did not forbid cities from keeping their own owner-occupancy condition — so some Utah cities still require the owner to live in the home, and an investor should confirm the local rule before counting on renting both units.

That makes Utah's reform more limited than California's or Washington's: it does not guarantee a detached ADU and does not impose a duplex or middle-housing mandate, leaving Utah closer to a local-control state than to Montana, which legalized ADUs in every municipality. But within its lane it reliably opens up interior conversions across one of the fastest-growing homebuilding markets in the country. Igni sources live Provo permit data from the city's open-data portal, so new residential and ADU permit activity surfaces across the booming Utah County and Salt Lake markets.

This is an informational summary, not legal advice; the detached-ADU and owner-occupancy rules in particular vary by city, so verify your local ordinance and the current statute before relying on it.