ADUs & Aging in Place
Some interesting new research by AARP confirms what we’ve long known anecdotally: being able to age in place is a top priority for most seniors.
AARP’s Vital Voices Survey asked Rhode Island adults ages 45 and up about what issues matter to them, and 85% of respondents said “staying in your own home as you get older” was very important or extremely important to them.
Another striking finding was that 87% of Rhode Islanders age 45 and up would prefer to receive care or help for themselves at home with caregiver assistance (rather than in a nursing home, assisted living facility, or group home). As older adults contemplate their changing housing needs, and younger adults anticipate the upcoming care needs of their aging loved ones, it’s interesting to explore the idea of Accessory Dwelling Units (known as ADUs).
ADUs can take various forms. You may have heard of them referred to as “granny flats” or “in-law suites.” They can be freestanding backyard cottages or a self-contained suite built within the primary home–or any number of other forms.
ADUs can be a great solution that allow family members to live much closer to each other, to provide rental income, or to provide housing for a live-in caretaker. Building a new housing unit from scratch enables accessibility features to be incorporated from the start. (That said, a surprising number of low-cost, high-impact modifications can be made in existing spaces, too.)
The near-universal experience of living with social isolation during the pandemic, added to the vulnerability of seniors in congregate care settings during this time, means that the appeal of and demand for ADUs is on the rise.
“People are choosing to … stay in their neighbourhood, in their own homes as long as possible. What ADUs allow them to do is bring in support, within their home, to be able to stay in their home and their community.” notes the AARP RI’s State Director – Outreach & Advocacy, Matt Netto.
Given that affordable housing is considered a serious problem by nearly half of respondents in the RI Vital Voices survey, it’s encouraging that ADUs have broad appeal. In fact, 54% of the respondents said they would consider creating an ADU if space was available. 84% said they strongly or somewhat strongly support town ordinances that make it easier to build ADUs.
Although there is broad support for ADUs in Rhode Island, it’s not always simple to get them built. Depending on where you live, you may need to apply for a zoning variance, and some places even have processes that seem designed to discourage ADUs. To address this, AARP has proposed legislation that encourages municipalities to embrace ADUs as a powerful tool in the housing toolkit.
Ready to start planning your dream ADU? HousingWorksRI at Rogers Williams University has a fantastic resource page with dozens of examples of how various types of ADUs can be incorporated into the five most common styles of single family homes in Rhode Island.