New allowances by the state that make it easier to build small apartments or guest houses has gained the attention of Island builders and affordable housing advocates.
About 50 people who work in construction, real estate and home inspections attended a roundtable discussion last month about the prospect of accessory dwelling units, which have been encouraged by the state as one of the potential ways to ease the Island’s housing crisis.
Often referred to as ADUs, the homes come in a variety of shapes and sizes, including garage apartments, separate small cottages and granny flats. They’ve had a long history on the Vineyard, but rules around permitting were loosened by the state legislature through the Affordable Homes Act in 2024.
“ADUs all over the country have become a big thing,” said John Abrams, the founder of South Mountain Company, a Vineyard-based design and construction firm. “Because all over the country there’s not enough housing for people who live in those places where people actually want to live.”
Mr. Abrams was moderating the roundtable for the Martha’s Vineyard Builders Association, which explored the recent changes to the law, how rules differ town-by-town, and practical considerations for the industry.
In the past, many municipalities in the state only allowed accessory dwelling units if the owners first got a special permit — an often costly and drawn out endeavor. But with Gov. Maura Healey’s signing of the Affordable Homes Act, the state now allows the secondary homes by right on single-family zoning districts across Massachusetts, if the new dwellings meet other requirements for issues such as setbacks and wastewater.
“It’s got a definition in state statute of 900-square feet, or 50 per cent of the primary home square footage,” said Laura Silber, the housing planner for the Martha’s Vineyard Commission, the Islandwide planning and regulatory agency.
In the year after the regulations were passed, more than three dozen ADUs were approved on the Vineyard, with the most being in Edgartown. Thus far, the Vineyard hasn’t seen a significant increase from the years prior, but there are several efforts on the Island and statewide to accelerate their production.
The Healey administration launched a design contest in December to generate a set of publicly available, replicable plans that homeowners and communities could use at no cost. The administration also announced this week the launch of a new statewide ADU loan program for homeowners.
MassHousing, an independent housing agency that provides economic assistance, also plans to set aside money to introduce financing options for low- and moderate-income homeowners.
“Expanding housing options for Massachusetts residents is one of our administration’s top priorities, and accessory dwelling units are one of the most practical ways to create housing and drive down costs in communities across our state,” the governor wrote on Monday.
Here on the Vineyard, Island Housing Trust is working with Backyard ADUs, a Maine-based company that helps homeowners plan and build accessory dwelling units.
Philipe Jordi, the CEO at Island Housing Trust, a nonprofit and one of the major developers of affordable housing units on the Island, said the changes in the law have been helpful, but there are still many barriers for everyday citizens who are interested in building.
“It’s clearly been something that can be done, but in many cases it required a special permit,” Mr. Jordi, one of the panelists at the roundtable event, held at the Barn, Bowl and Bistro on Feb. 18 said. “Now it doesn’t, so that’s lifted one barrier, but there’s still many other barriers.”
Island Housing Trust is attempting to start a resource center for people looking into ADUs. He hoped to offer education on the process and technical assistance like has been done in other states, such as California.
“We’ve been looking at seeing if we can do a similar setup here through an online-type of tutorial that you can actually go into using tools to figure out your financial feasibility, looking at even site consideration,” he said.
He was also interested in using community preservation funding, state money, and private resources that fund projects. In Vermont, there is a program that offers five-year forgivable loans for ADUs.
Many of the builders had questions about what is allowed and not allowed under the new rules, and potential pitfalls.
Towns do have the option of overlooking the requirement that ADUs be no more than 50 per cent of the principal dwelling. They can instead allow the flat 900-square foot ceiling.
Municipalities can also restrict the new homes from being used as short-term rentals, which have proliferated on the Island but have been seen by housing advocates as exacerbating the housing crisis. All of the Island towns, with the exception of Aquinnah, have limited the by-right ADUs from being used as short-term rentals, though Edgartown does allow ADUs that were previously used for tourists to carry on.
Ross Seavey, the former Tisbury building commissioner who now works with the state office of public safety and inspections, said that while some of the permitting requirements have changed, much of the rules stay the same.
“A lot of my job is reminding people, ‘hey, the building code is still the building code, it hasn’t changed,’” he said.
Like a normal home, ADUs need to have a sleeping area, cooking facilities and bathrooms. Other regulations that govern homes, including those from the board of health, also all remain in place.
“The state statute says board of health regulations and other applicable town regulations still apply,” said Ms. Silber. “So even though you have the ability by right to do an ADU, there’s going to be a lot of cases where the lot size and setback don’t allow you to do an ADU.”
Many technical questions came up about parking requirements, whether people who already have guest houses would be allowed to build a third residence, and how this would square with lots that are already incongruent with zoning rules.
At one point, one attendee asked if there was a sense of how many of these accessory dwelling units have been set aside to help the Island’s year-round housing shortage, and if this could make a dent in the problem.
Ms. Silber was blunt, saying this won’t solely turn the tide.
“It’s not a silver bullet because 60 per cent of our inventory is seasonal housing. Only 40 per cent of our inventory is actually year-round housing,” she said.
Chances are, Ms. Silber said, that the seasonal homeowners who are interested in building ADUs would build them for seasonal use within their families, and those properties would not add to the year-round housing stock.
But Mr. Jordi said that after looking at programs across the country, this could be a cost-effective way to stretch public funding.
“We could do a lot with a little,” he said. “If you think how much it costs to build a unit of housing on the Island — ownership or rental — we’re talking upwards of $600,000-$700,000 at least. With this, if you could incentivize it when you’re only putting a fraction of that down, you could do a lot.”
This article appears in March 20, 2026.
The argument has been being made for a very long time on Martha’s Vineyard. That relaxing zoning is going to be one of the largest steps towards progress. The towns need to get on board. Address zoning issues that are limiting ADU construction. At some point as a community we’re going to have to face the fact that the largest thing driving people out of housing on Martha’s Vineyard isn’t a short term rental. It’s the fact that very few businesses are paying what is truly a living wage. Even at $50 an hour, and you won’t qualify to get a loan to even build an ADU let alone by the dirt.
There are 6 swimming pools in your photo put a surcharge to anyone wanting to build a pool and have it go to needed housing stock. I am told it costs $200-300K for a pool add a 2% tax if you want a pool.
More ADU’s could provide more year round housing. I have found the town of Tisbury is doing little to change their bylaws for previously built ADU’s (guest houses). Since Governor Healey passed the bill, I have been trying to get the town to modify their regulations. I have been told, since I’m the first person who came forward with this suggestion, they won’t do anything about it. The ultimate goal of Healey’s bill is to provide more housing for residents. If there are existing guest houses or ADU’s, why not make them available. My wife and I saw the housing shortage on Martha’s Vineyard 30 years ago and we started doing something about it then; Year round affordable housing.
A large percentage of people who rent out their ADUs as STRs are because they HAVE to in order to help with the high cost of living here year-round. Many new ADU’s would likely be built for people who have summer homes here and would like extra space for their guests. Doubtful that many people would build just to rent it out year-round. Our affordable housing issue is an issue that we desperately need to solve but the idea that limiting the amount of time an ADU is able to be rented, will not move the needle. If such limitations were to be implemented, year round residents who need to rent their ADU’s would be financially burdened, the Town would collect less tax from less taxes accrued from rentals, and…we still wouldn’t have a solution to the island housing issue. I can’t see how this is a win. With that said, Stowe, VT has passed a law similar to this but they allow people whose homes are their primary residence to rent out their ADU’s as a STR.
More housing equals more traffic, more kids in our schools ( $40k a year each) resulting in higher taxes. When is enough , enough? How many acres should we pave over to provide housing? How many more people need to move here? No one has a right to live here if they can’t afford it.
Who will do the work if there is no housing for workers? There are already many people who take the boat to come to work. Essential workers cannot possibly commute every day.