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

020(e) of the Lubbock UDC ties ADU approval directly to owner-occupancy. For new units in the RE, SF-1, SF-2, and MDR districts, and for units allowed in Mixed Use districts alongside House, Duplex, or Multiplex housing types, the code requires that an accessory dwelling unit sit on a parcel where the owner of the property lives in either the primary or the accessory unit; the applicant must submit an affidavit explaining why the ADU qualifies under this owner-occupancy standard. Previously existing ADUs in the RE, SF-1, SF-2, MDR, and HDR districts get the same owner-occupancy condition, but the code treats them separately: an existing unit is exempt from the newer structural standards in this Subsection, and the Director of Planning may instead classify it as a nonconforming use or structure.

The owner-occupancy condition does not vanish just because the property changes hands. Subsection 5, Termination of approved status, provides that a change in ownership does not by itself end the ADU's approved status as long as either the primary or the accessory unit continues to be occupied by the property's owner, but that approved status ceases entirely the moment neither of the two dwelling units on the tract is owner-occupied. Approval is further capped at one primary dwelling and one accessory dwelling per lot, and a minimum lot area of 10,000 square feet applies citywide, dropping to 6,000 square feet inside the Neighborhood Infill Overlay or Community Infill Overlay districts.