Cupertino, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)
Key Facts
- Owner-occupancy required
- House or JADU, not neither
- Exempt owners
- Govt agency, land trust, housing org
- Deed restriction required
- Recorded, binds future purchasers
- Governing citation
- CMC § 19.112.020
Summary
A Junior Accessory Dwelling Unit in Cupertino requires that either the main house or the JADU stay owner-occupied, unless the owner is a government agency, land trust, or housing organization. Municipal Code Section 19.112.020 also requires a recorded deed restriction locking in that limit and barring a separate sale of the JADU.
For JADUs, either the single-family residence or JADU must be owner-occupied, unless the owner is a governmental agency, land trust, or housing organization. Further, the owner shall record a deed restriction, expressly enforceable against future purchasers, containing the following: (a) a prohibition on the sale of the JADU separate from the single-family residence, and (b) a restriction on the size and attributes of the JADU to conform to this section.
Full Breakdown
112. The code requires that either the single-family residence or the JADU must be owner-occupied, so an owner who moves out of the main house entirely and rents both the house and the JADU to unrelated tenants is out of compliance, unless the owner falls into one of three exempted classes: a governmental agency, a land trust, or a housing organization. 020 requires the owner to record a deed restriction expressly enforceable against future purchasers, and it specifies what that recorded document must contain: a prohibition on selling the JADU separate from the single-family residence, and a restriction tying the JADU's size and attributes to what the section allows.
Recording runs against the property as a condition tied to the building permit, and the Department of Community Development checks for the recorded restriction before signing off on the JADU's certificate of occupancy. The owner-occupancy condition is unique to JADUs among Cupertino's ADU types: a full-size detached or attached ADU created under the same chapter carries no matching residency requirement for the owner.
Violations & Fines
Failing to record the required deed restriction, or losing owner-occupied status without falling under the government-agency, land-trust, or housing-organization exemption, is a violation of Chapter 19.112 enforceable through the City's code enforcement process. Because the restriction is recorded against the property, a subsequent purchaser takes the parcel subject to the same limits, so removing it generally requires converting the JADU back into standard living space.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to live in my house if I build a JADU?
What does the required JADU deed restriction have to say?
Does the owner-occupancy rule apply to a full-size ADU too?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Cupertino
California rules heatmap·Compare Cupertino to another location·View the California accessory structures overview
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ADU Owner Occupancy in Nearby Cities
How other cities in Santa Clara County handle adu owner occupancy.