The County of Santa Cruz is creating partnerships with homeowners motivated to build an ADU/in-law unit. In partnership with Hello Housing, the County has created an ADU Incentives program for homeowners to help make the process less overwhelming. Free feasibility and project management support provided by Hello Housing and paid for by the County is now available for homeowners who live in the Unincorporated Areas of the County. Our team of design and construction experts are ready to help you figure out what's possible with your property.
The online application period will close on July 31st 2023.
1
Online Application
Closes July 31st
Submit your online application. The application will (1) determine your initial eligibility (2) provide the HelloADU team with some basic information about your ADU/JADU vision and your readiness and (3) to confirm your understanding of what Santa Cruz County's HelloADU can and can’t do for you. It should take about 15-20 minutes to complete.
2
ADU Application Workshop & Lottery
2nd Week in August
At the end of the application period, HelloADU's team will host an ADU Application Workshop to discuss in more details the ADU Program, the free project management services that will be available to participating homeowners, and share details about the final stages of the application process for homeowners who seek to proceed with the program.
Following the workshop, all applicants who are interested in moving forward with the program will be placed into a sorting lottery which will rank applicants in random order for initial individual feasibility sessions. Following the sorting lottery, Hello Housing will promptly start scheduling remote sessions with applicants in rank order.
3
Remote Sessions &
Site Visits
HelloADU's team will reach out to schedule a phone conversation which includes a discussion about your potential project, potential costs, timeline and process. If following the phone call your project is a good potential candidate for the County's HelloADU program and you are still interested and ready to move forward, we will schedule a site visit.
At the site visit, we will walk your property together, learn more about your vision, review any sketches or drawings to date (if available), take measurements, locate utility connections, identify site conditions that may impact feasibility and construction cost, and discuss the pros and cons of alternative approaches.
4
Participation Agreement
If, following the site visit, you and Hello Housing mutually agree to move forward, you will be invited to submit a Participation Package which will include a Homeowner’s Participation Agreement and any other documents identified at the Site Visit that are needed for Hello Housing to make a final selection. Additional information may include evidence of financial plan in place to pay for the unit as well as participant income verification documentation.
To learn more about program eligibility and how to get answers to common questions please read through our Frequently Asked Questions.