News: Napa County launches program to spur ADU construction
We are VERY excited to share the news published in the Napa Valley Register regarding Napa County’s NEW Affordable ADU Loan Program, coming in the New Year. For a brief overview, read below – and for more details, check out the full article here.
To learn more about the program, reach out to Napa County at ADUloans@countyofnapa.org for email inquiries and 707.259.8150 if you want to chat!
“Napa County will offer maximum forgivable loans of up to $45,000 for a studio, $80,000 for a one-bedroom unit and $105,000 for a two-bedroom unit. In addition, the county encourages homeowners to seek $40,000 California Housing Finance Agency grants.
County officials gave some examples of how the program can work for a homeowner who wants to build an accessory dwelling unit:
A two-bedroom, 800-square-foot unit might cost $340,000 to build. A base forgivable loan, other county incentives and a state grant could total $145,000, leaving $195,000 for the homeowner to cover.
A 400-square-foot studio might cost $180,000 to build. A base forgivable loan and other county incentives and a state grant could total $85,000, leaving $95,000 for the homeowner to cover.
The homeowner would agree to rent to someone earning at or below 80% of the area median income. That's $70,550 for a household of one, $80,600 for a household of two, $90,700 for a household of three and $100,750 for a household of four.
Also, the homeowner would agree to rent affordability standards. For example, a medium-sized unit that could fetch a market-rate rent of $2,624 would rent for $2,026 under the affordability standards, a county report said.
The affordability requirement would last five years. Twenty percent of the county loan would be forgiven for each year of compliance, until the total loan is forgiven after five years.
Napa County is spending $5 million on the affordable rent accessory dwelling unit program.
The county is spending another $1 million on a related program to incentivize the building of market-rate units. It will offer participating homeowners such assistance as a landlord matching program, permit streamlining, feasibility studies, grants for loan fees and help from the Napa Sonoma ADU Center.”