ADU rules in Lubbock

Lubbock's UDC (adopted 2023) defines an ADU to include a unit detached from the primary single-family residence with permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation, and the House building type description contemplates an ADU in the backyard. New ADUs are allowed in the RE, SF-1, SF-2, and MDR districts, and in Mixed Use districts together with House, Duplex, or Multiplex building types, when the owner lives in either the primary or the accessory unit. The lot must be at least 10,000 sq ft (6,000 in the two infill overlays), one ADU per lot, with administrative approval by the Director of Planning.

The same definition covers a space incorporated within the living area of the primary single-family residence, so an attached or internal ADU qualifies the same way a detached one does, with the identical district list, owner-occupancy requirement, minimum lot area, and one-unit-per-lot cap. Attached accessory structures must meet the setbacks that apply to the primary structure.

Lubbock sets no absolute square-footage limit for ADUs; the ceiling scales with the main house. A detached ADU is also an accessory building, so the 10-percent-of-lot cap applies on smaller lots. The bigger gate is lot size: many standard Lubbock single-family lots fall short of 10,000 sq ft.

The owner must live in either the primary house or the ADU, both to qualify and to keep the approval; the application includes an affidavit, and approved status ends if neither unit is owner occupied. A sale does not automatically end the approval as long as the new owner occupies one of the units.

Both the ADU standards and the citywide parking schedule (Table 39.03.009-2, which has its own ADU line) require one extra space on top of the primary home's requirement. In base Mixed-Use districts the schedule does not apply, though voluntarily provided parking must meet design rules.

An ADU is a limited use ('L') in the use matrix: permitted subject to administrative approval by the Director of Planning through a Use Verification Form, with no public hearing. The application must include an affidavit explaining how the ADU qualifies, and the unit must comply with the building code, so a building permit is also involved. No Specific Use Permit (Lubbock's council-approved conditional-use instrument) is required in the districts where ADUs are listed.

Lubbock expressly allows an approved ADU to be rented long term or short term, which is unusually permissive for Texas. Because the owner must occupy the primary or accessory unit, renting both units out ends the ADU's approved status. Operating the ADU as an STR triggers §39.07.029: a $100 annually renewable permit that does not transfer with a sale, plus 7 percent city hotel occupancy tax collected through the city's Rentalscape portal.