Newport Beach, CA Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

200(H)(1), an ADU or junior ADU (JADU) may be rented, but except as authorized under California Government Code 66341, it cannot be sold or otherwise conveyed separately from the lot and principal dwelling (or, for a multi-unit lot, from the lot and all the dwellings on it). Subsection (H)(2) is the operative short-term rental ban: the ADU or JADU "shall not be rented for periods of thirty (30) days or less," which forecloses Airbnb-style nightly or weekly rentals of these units citywide. Subsection (H)(3) layers an owner-occupancy requirement onto JADUs specifically: a natural person holding legal or equitable title to the lot must live in either the principal single-unit dwelling or the JADU as a legal domicile and permanent residence, though this does not apply to a JADU owned by a governmental agency, land trust, or housing organization.

200(I) backs all of this with a recordation requirement: before the City issues a building or grading permit for a JADU, the owner must record a deed restriction with the Orange County Recorder, in a form satisfactory to the City Attorney, that puts future owners on notice of the owner-occupancy rule, the ban on separate conveyance, the approved unit size and attributes, and the restriction on short-term rentals. That deed restriction stays in effect for as long as the JADU exists on the lot, so the restrictions run with the property through resale rather than expiring with the original applicant.