Junior ADU (JADU)
Also: JADU
A Junior ADU (JADU) is an ADU of up to 500 square feet created within the existing walls of a single-family home, often a converted bedroom. It may share a bathroom with the main house but needs its own entrance and a small kitchen. JADUs are the lowest-cost ADU type.
Unlike a standard ADU, a JADU keeps an owner-occupancy requirement — the owner must live in either the main house or the JADU. In Sacramento, JADUs start near $85,000 because they reuse existing structure. Because a JADU stays inside the home's existing walls and is capped at 500 square feet, it sits well under the 750-square-foot impact-fee exemption and rarely triggers a new foundation, sewer lateral, or full Title 24 envelope. That makes it the fastest, lowest-friction way for a Sacramento owner to add a rentable unit, and the shared-bathroom option lets a converted bedroom become legal income space without re-plumbing the house.
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