Dear Majority Leader Cousins and Assembly Speaker Heastie,

As a diverse coalition of housing nonprofits, tenant activists, policy organizations, fair housing and immigrant justice organizations, and more, we write to request you include legalization of accessory dwelling units (ADUs) in your budget proposal. We also request that you include at least $85 million in technical assistance funding to help municipalities and non-profits legalize existing ADUs. Both these provisions are in Governor Hochul’s budget proposal.

We support these provisions because they will benefit homeowners and tenants alike. Legalizing ADUs is a vital part of a strategy to address the housing crisis and reduce racial segregation.

Backyard apartments, attic or basement apartments, mother-in-law suites, and ​“casitas” all fall under the umbrella of ADUs, and legalizing them is an important element of a broader strategy to reduce housing costs and enable New Yorkers to stay in their homes. By increasing the supply of housing and providing more affordable options for where people can live, ADUs can provide more homes without significantly changing the surrounding built environment. And by providing a pathway and incentive to bring existing ADUs into regulation, we can ensure New Yorkers have safe homes and can access all of the government services available to them.

ADU legalization will help address our state’s affordable housing crisis, give homeowners a new source of income, and provide more options for multigenerational families. Senior citizens especially stand to benefit from the legalization of ADUs, both because it would create more affordable homes, and second because it would allow more seniors to age in place by giving elderly homeowners the ability to have a live-in caretaker, or more income to pay expenses.

Over 800,000 households across New York State are facing housing insecurity and many others can’t find housing in a safe, convenient neighborhood with good access to jobs. The stories behind these statistics are real – teachers who can’t afford to live in the communities where they work, students who are struggling to pay for books or food because of high housing costs, or essential workers in the health care or service industry who live 2 hours from their job. Legalizing ADUs will provide critical new housing options for our workforce, supporting local economies and allowing people to spend more time and money close to home.

28% of property owners in New York State (more than 1 million) are struggling with mortgages, property taxes, and house maintenance costs. Legalizing ADUs will give these New Yorkers a safety net for homeowners, and allow flexibility they need to adapt their property for their circumstances.

A wave of cities and states across the country, including our neighbors in Connecticut, have already legalized ADUs and are seeing clear benefits from this commonsense policy.

Thank you for your consideration,

Aaron Carr
Executive Director, Housing Rights Initiative

William Thomas
Executive Director, Open New York

Elaine Gross
President, ERASE Racism

Timothy Foley
CEO, The Building & Realty Institute of Westchester

Thomas Yu
Co-Executive Director, Asian Americans For Equality

Tom Wright
President and CEO, Regional Plan Association

Kathryn S. Wylde
President & CEO, Partnership for New York City

Marlene Zarfes
Executive Director, Westchester Residential Opportunities

Sally Santangelo
Executive Director, CNY Fair Housing

Tommi-Grace Melito
Advocacy & Coalition Manager, Health & Welfare Council of LI

Beth Finkel
State Director, AARP New York

Jay Martin
Executive Director, Community Housing Improvement Program (CHIP)

Lewis A. Dubuque
Executive Vice President, New York State Builders Association

Lina Lee
Executive Director, Communities Resist

Sarah Watson
Interim Executive Director, Citizens Housing and Planning Council

Allison Nickerson
Executive Director, LiveOn NY

Lisa Tyson
Director, Long Island Progressive Coalition

Mary Robinson
CEO, Habitat for Humanity of New York State

Matthew Dunbar
Chief Strategy Officer & EVP, Habitat for Humanity NYC and Westchester County

Ian Wilder
Executive Director, Long Island Housing Services, Inc.

Rachel Fee
Executive Director, New York Housing Conference

Ruth Finkelstein
Executive Director, Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging

Greta Guarton
Executive Director, Long Island Coalition for the Homeless

Paul Epstein
Co-Chair, Inwood Legal Action

Chris Cirillo
Executive Director/President, Ascendant Neighborhood Development Corporation

Nyah Berg
Executive Director, New York Appleseed

Anahaita N. Kotval
CEO, Lifting Up Westchester, Inc.

Michael Romita
President & CEO, Westchester County Association

Pilar Moya-Mancera
Executive Director, Housing Help Inc.

Hunter Gross
President, Huntington Township Housing Coalition

James Jenkins, Jr.
Chief Operating Officer, First Approach EA/Worksite Wellness LLC

Benjamin Prosky
Executive Director, American Institute of Architects New York

Lucria Ortiz
President & CEO, Yonkers Family YMCA

Peter D’Arcy
Area Executive, M&T Bank

Brian Baer
Executive Director, The Elevated Studio

Jessica Bacher
Executive Director, Land Use Law Center at Pace Law School

Evol Sweeney
Associate Program Director, New Ground

Elizabeth Grossman
Executive Director, Fair Housing Justice Center