This is an item in our Local Government Toolkit.
A “cottage court” is a cluster of homes arranged around a shared courtyard, clubhouse, garden, or other amenity. Typically, the homes are on lots about 2,000 sq. ft. in size and often achieve privacy through extensive use of trees and vegetation. A “starter home” lacks an official definition but is generally understood as a smaller home on a smaller lot, like a three-bed, two-bath house under 1,500 square feet.
Even if interest rates drop and the cost of construction lowers, there are a number of things that officials like yourself still need to do to help make starter homes possible:
- Don’t mandate anything. Those who want to and can afford to build large estates and farms absolutely must retain the freedom to do so.
- Reduce Minimum Lot Sizes. A half-acre of land in Utah’s population centers can cost $300,000 or more. With costs this high, property owners need the freedom to create smaller lots. For cottage courts, we recommend a minimum lot size of 1/25th acre (1,742.4 sq. ft.).
- Reduce Other Requirements. For cottage courts to exist, requirements that homes border a street, lot widths, and setbacks will all need to be relaxed or eliminated.
We advocate approaching starter homes and reduced lot sizes with the following principles in mind:
(Really) Local Control: People have ultimate control and use their property, which means subdividing and building starter homes should be on the table.
Impact: Concerns about insufficient parking, noise, and other potential nuisances should not be the basis for rejecting cottage court starter homes. Valid concerns can be addressed in a well-crafted ordinance.
Are you a local elected official and interested in chatting with us more about this topic? Please reach out to us at localgovt@libertas.institute—we’d love to chat!
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