South Fulton, GA Accessory Structures: ADU Rental Restrictions (2026)

Sec. 09(a) caps guest houses at one structure per lot and restricts occupancy to relatives, guest(s) or employees who work on the property, explicitly stating they must occupy it without payment of rent, which forecloses using the structure as a rental unit or accessory dwelling for lease. A guest house is allowed a separate kitchen facility, distinguishing it from a bedroom addition. Heated floor area must fall between 650 and 1,500 square feet, though the section carves out an exception letting a guest house be built as a 400-square-foot maximum Tiny House if it meets the current State Minimum Standard Residential Code with Georgia amendments.

Placement is restricted to the rear yard only, and the structure must still meet the same setbacks that apply to the principal building on the lot under Sec. 09(d). Because the no-rent condition is written into the definition of the allowed use itself, converting a guest house into a leased unit is not a code compliance question the city resolves through variance; it is a use the zoning district does not permit for that structure type.