AB 956 · Housing Laws Navigator
Bills · 2025-2026 Regular Session

AB 956

Accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units.Ch. 791, Stats. 2026 · chaptered 2026-09-29 · Chaptered, not yet in effect

Not yet in effect. AB 956 was chaptered 2026-09-29 and takes effect January 1, 2027. The sections it amends are shown in this navigator as they read on the saved leginfo pages, without this bill’s changes; each section’s History tab can show it as this bill leaves it. Some provisions may have their own operative dates; check the bill text. Not legal advice.

Key provisions · Claude summary of the digest, not bill text

Required ministerial approval of 2 detached new-construction ADUs on single-family lots and extended ADU covenant protections to lots zoned to allow single-family use.

  • Two detached ADUs. Increased from 1 to 2 the number of detached, new-construction ADUs a local agency must ministerially approve on a lot with a proposed or existing single-family dwelling.
  • JADU limit. Stated that a local agency need not ministerially approve a JADU on a lot where 2 detached new-construction ADUs have been built.
  • Covenant protections. Applied the prohibitions on CC&Rs and governing documents that restrict ADUs or JADUs to lots zoned to allow single-family residential use.

Paraphrased from the Legislative Counsel’s Digest. Check the bill text before relying on it.

ClaudeGreen text is a summary heading written by Claude to help navigate. It is not statute text; the statute text is in black.

SEC. 1

Section 714.3 of the Civil Code is amended to read:

SEC. 2

Section 4751 of the Civil Code is amended to read:

SEC. 3In the navigator:§ 66323changes

Section 66323 of the Government Code is amended to read:

SEC. 4

No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIII B of the California Constitution because a local agency or school district has the authority to levy service charges, fees, or assessments sufficient to pay for the program or level of service mandated by this act, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code.

Source: LegiScan API, chaptered text of AB 956 (2025-2026 Regular Session).

Bill text is the chaptered version from LegiScan (California Legislature); spacing is normalized. Code section text in a bill is the text that bill chaptered, not necessarily the law in effect today. Not legal advice.