Most ADU projects never get built. That’s the part no one talks about.
In San Diego, only about 1 in 3 ADUs submitted for permits from 2022-2023 had been completed by December 2025.
We analyzed what actually makes the difference:
• 2,400+ homeowner inquiries
• 100 completed detached ADUs
• Real answers from 31 homeowners who completed an ADU
What separates finished projects from stalled ones?
It’s not design. It’s not even budget.
It’s clarity early: What’s feasible, what it really costs, and who can actually get it built.
We’ll break down the data over the next few posts.
Read the full article here:
snapadu.com/lessons-from-100-adu-builds-detached-adu-report-san-diego/
