Dallas, TX Accessory Structures: ADU Owner Occupancy (2026)

Sec. 510(c)(4), titled "Owner occupancy," ties ADU rentals in Dallas directly to owner residency. The rule reads: if one dwelling unit on the lot is used as rental accommodations, the property owner must reside in the main structure or the accessory dwelling unit during the tenancy. In practice that means an owner who rents out the ADU must live in the main house, and an owner who moves into the ADU and rents the main house is equally compliant, but an owner who rents out both units while living off-site is not.

The code carves out one narrow exception: the owner may be absent for up to one year with the planning director's approval, covering situations like a temporary job relocation, medical stay, or military deployment without permanently forfeiting the rental arrangement. 500, it only binds properties within an approved overlay district; a lot outside an overlay cannot legally have a rented ADU in the first place under Sec. 510(b), so the owner-occupancy duty never becomes an independent question there. The requirement is enforced alongside the overlay's other conditions, including the single-family rental program registration and the prohibition on selling the ADU separately from the main house, both found in the same subsection (c) of Sec. 510.