And in Utah’s capital city, there is new evidence that accessory dwelling units — commonly known as mother-in-law apartments — may prove to be a gradual way of increasing new types of housing. But they can also be expensive to construct.
Since Salt Lake City loosened its rules last fall, it has received at least 27 applications from homeowners seeking to build new units to go with their existing homes, be they basement apartments or over a garage or a separate structure in the backyard.
That’s ahead of the city’s best guess of 25 new requests when the City Council widened where it allows such units in October, after years of at-times intense discussion and testimony from those not keen on the idea.