Is There Still a California ADU Grant? (2026 Update)

Updated September 1, 2026. We refresh this page whenever the program status changes.

Related from Renova Built: ADU financing, handled in house on one contract.

Short answer: no. The $40,000 CalHFA ADU Grant Program is closed, and has been since December 2023. There is no statewide California ADU grant accepting applications right now, and no relaunch date has been announced.

We build ADUs across Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Bernardino, and we get asked this almost every week. Here is the honest version, and more usefully, what actually pays for an ADU in 2026.

What the California ADU grant was

The California Housing Finance Agency ran the ADU Grant Program for income-qualified homeowners. It reimbursed up to $40,000 in pre-development and non-recurring closing costs. Note what that means: it never paid for construction. It covered the money you spend before a shovel moves.

• Architectural design and construction drawings
• Permit fees
• Soil tests
• Property surveys
• Impact fees
• Title 24 energy reports
• Site preparation

That is still a meaningful share of an ADU budget, which is exactly why the program was popular enough to run out of money.

Why it closed, and whether it is coming back

CalHFA allocated the last round of funding and posted a notice saying so on December 28, 2023. The program has not reopened since. There is no announced date for a new round and no budget line you can apply against today.

You will also see people searching for a “$25,000 ADU grant.” Different figure, same program, same answer. It is not taking applications.

Could it return? Possibly. ADU grant funding has come and gone before, and it depends on the state budget. The only place worth checking is CalHFA directly at calhfa.ca.gov/adu. Do not take a contractor’s word for it, including ours. Check the source.

Why you are still seeing ads promising a grant

This is the part worth reading carefully.

Los Angeles is saturated with ads promising zero-down ADUs and state programs that will pay for your build. A lot of them are not run by builders at all. They are lead brokers, and some style their pages to look like government programs. You fill in the form expecting a grant, and what actually happens is your phone number gets sold to three contractors.

CalHFA is blunt about this. Their own notice states that if someone approaches you offering to help you get an ADU Grant, “it is a financial scam.”

If a company is still advertising a grant that closed almost three years ago, that tells you something about everything else they are going to tell you.

What actually pays for an ADU in 2026

No grant does not mean no options. These are the routes our clients actually use.

• HELOC. The most common by a wide margin. You borrow against your equity without touching your first mortgage, which matters if you locked a low rate years ago.
• Cash-out refinance. Makes sense when current rates are close to or below what you are already paying. If your existing rate is very low, it usually does not.
• Construction or renovation loan. Draws are released in stages as the build hits milestones, so you are not carrying the full balance from day one.
• Loans that count your future rent. Under current FHA guidelines, participating lenders can count a portion of your projected ADU rental income when they qualify you. This is the option most homeowners have never heard of, and it is often the one that makes the numbers work.

We walk through all four, with real numbers for your lot, on our ADU financing page.

Two real programs that are not grants but still save you money

LADBS pre-approved Standard Plans. The City of Los Angeles owns a library of ADU designs that are already reviewed and approved. Property owners can use them free of charge, and because the plan check is largely done, you save both design cost and weeks of review time. This is the closest thing to free money in the category, and almost nobody asks about it.

The LA ADU Accelerator Program. Worth knowing what this is and is not. It does not help you build. It applies once your ADU is finished and permitted, and it matches you with an older-adult tenant with rent paid on a stable, guaranteed basis. If your goal is dependable rental income rather than the highest possible rent, it is genuinely worth a look. City of Los Angeles only.

What about other states, and other cities?

If you search for accessory dwelling unit grants you will land on programs that are real, but not yours. Colorado runs an ADU grant program. New York runs Plus One ADU. MassHousing runs an ADU loan program. Chicago has one too. All of them are funded by their own state or local government and none of them are open to a homeowner in California.

Closer to home, some California cities and counties run their own small pilots, and eligibility and application process differ in every one. They come and go with local budgets. If you want to check, ask your city’s housing department directly rather than a contractor.

Common questions

Who is eligible for the California ADU Grant in 2026?

Nobody, because there is no open application. When the program was running it was limited to income-qualified homeowners who met CalHFA’s area median income limits and were building an ADU on a property they owned and occupied. Those requirements are moot while the round is closed.

Will California pay you to build an ADU?

Not today. The state has funded ADU grants before and may again, but there is no program you can apply to right now. Anyone telling you otherwise is either misinformed or selling something.

What is the cheapest way to build an ADU?

Converting space you already have. A garage conversion reuses the existing slab, walls, and roof, so you are paying to make a structure habitable rather than to build one. A junior ADU carved out of the existing footprint is similar. A new detached unit costs the most and gives you the most flexibility and the strongest rent.

What is the best way to finance an ADU?

For most homeowners with equity and a low existing mortgage rate, a HELOC. If you have little equity, a renovation or construction loan that underwrites against the finished value is usually the better route, and it is worth asking any lender whether they can count projected ADU rent toward how much you qualify for.

If you were counting on the grant

The $40,000 would have covered your soft costs. Losing it does not change whether an ADU pencils out on your property, it changes how you fund the front end. The honest next step is to find out what your lot allows and what the build actually costs, because a real number beats a hoped-for grant every time.

See current ranges on our ADU cost page, or what the city requires on our ADU permits page. If you would rather just ask a licensed builder, book a free consultation and we will tell you what your lot supports, what it costs, and how long it takes. No grant required.