Can Your Town Really Block You from Building an ADU in Massachusetts?

By Buz Artiano, BuildX | May 2026

Watch: ADUs Explained & Insights into Accessory Dwelling Units w/ Coldwell Bankers | BuildX Podcast

If you have been reading about the new ADU law in Massachusetts, everything that you find says that homeowners have the right to build an ADU. But if you call the town hall, the person you talk to might give you a different answer. They might tell you that the local rules for an ADU haven't been decided on yet. Or they might say that your lot doesn't qualify. Maybe they will just simply tell you that you can't. If you are left wondering if your town can really stop you from building an ADU, you aren't the only one. That fear keeps more families from going ahead than any other issue in this process.

My name is Buz Artiano, and I am the founder and CEO of BuildX. We have constructed many ADUs in the state of Massachusetts mostly on the South Shore and throughout Plymouth County. We will do the design, necessary permits, and construction all in one place and that means we deal directly with the city building departments, boards of health, and zoning offices on each project. We have dealt with all of the different town responses like Plymouth where the process is easy and professional, to towns that have offered resistance at every step. We understand the Affordable Homes Act, the by-right regulations, the septic restrictions in Title V, lot coverage limits, and the Attorney General review process that regulates what each town can and cannot do.

The rule at BuildX is simple: the first five times someone tells us no, we start to believe it. After 13 times, we are pretty convinced. But until then, we keep pushing. This article will take you through just exactly what your town can and can't restrict and what happens when a town tries to go too far. The purpose is to give you the information you need so that you know what you have a right to do, before you have your next talk with the town hall.

Can My Town Legally Prevent Me from Building an ADU?

The short answer is no. The Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act clearly says that cities can not enforce, prohibit, or put unreasonable rules on ADUs in order to get land use approval. The legislation was made to overrule local objections to ADUs. Towns do keep the right to set reasonable guidelines, but they can't use those guidelines to stop ADU construction.

This is an important difference. A town can make you go through a review of the site plan and can set standards of dimensions like setbacks or a limit on height. And a town can make the ADU follow local health and safety codes. But a town can't create conditions that are so limiting that building an ADU is impossible. The law draws a line between what is regulation and what is prohibition.

We have seen how this works personally in some towns like Plymouth, where they have welcomed the process. You can apply for your zoning permit online, turn in your building permit application, and then everything goes through the board of health and water department in logical order. Other towns have been more resistant. So in those cases, the laws still protect the homeowner. The question isn't whether you have the right but about how much resistance you will run into when you how much friction you will encounter applying it.

What Happens When a Town Passes a Restrictive ADU Bylaw?

Every local bylaw in Massachusetts, including ADU regulations, has to pass through a definite approval process. First, the town has to pass the bylaw at a town meeting. Then the most important part that most homeowners do not know about is that the bylaw has to be submitted for review to the Massachusetts Attorney General's office. The AG has the authority to reject any bylaw that goes against the state law.

This is the safeguard that protects homeowners in those towns that are resistant. If a town passes a law that would stop the ADU construction, the Attorney General can send it back and require it to be changed. We have been clear about our expectations for how this will work. The AG is going to look at overly restrictive bylaws and tell towns they are too restrictive, that they need to go back, change the wording and then submit it again.

Here's an example for you. Middleborough passed a law that banned front-yard ADUs. That kind of restriction is in that gray area. They're not actually banning ADUs, but you have less options on where you can put one. Sometimes the front yard is the only viable place to build it, so the law could effectively block you from building an ADU entirely. Maybe that restriction will pass the AG review, maybe it won't. It depends on if it contradicts the by-right state law that's already in place.

The point we're trying to make is that if your town passes a regulation of some kind that feels unreasonable, that doesn't have to be the end of it. There's a review process that the state uses for this very reason, to catch towns that are overreaching. You can review the legislation and regulatory framework at mass.gov.

What Can Towns Legitimately Require for ADU Construction?

Towns are allowed to set reasonable conditions on ADU construction. Understanding what's considered reasonable and unreasonable by the state will help you evaluate where your town stands on the whole thing.

Legitimate requirements are things like site plan review, which is where the town looks over your proposed ADU's location, the size and dimensions, and impact on the lot. Towns can also require you to obey all standard building code requirements, fire safety egress standards, and board of health regulations including septic compliance under Title V. But none of those things are extra obstacles the town is putting in your way. These are the same things that apply to any residential construction in Massachusetts.

The law also made it clear on where towns cannot override. Neither the ADU occupant nor the property owner is required to be related to anyone living in the primary dwelling. Neither party is required to be the owner-occupant of the property. And while the law requires that ADU rentals be 30 days or longer (no short-term vacation rentals), towns can make that minimum more stringent but cannot use rental restrictions as a backdoor to prevent construction entirely.

We evaluate every project against the state laws and local requirements before we quote. That's just because we've seen families commit to a project budget without understanding that their town's site plan review adds 30 days to the timeline, or that the board of health requires a specific septic configuration that can up the price quite a bit. When we say we handle permitting under one roof, that includes knowing what each town requires and building that into the project plan from day one. A builder who does not understand the local regulations will be the reason for delays and cost changes after you've already committed.

What Should I Do If My Town Is Pushing Back?

If you live in a town where it's difficult to build an ADU, you still have options. The first step is understanding that resistance isn't the same thing as not being able to legally build. A slow process, an unhelpful town hall employee, or a complicated board of health review doesn't mean you can't build but it means you need a plan.

We have been up front about the approach that works. It means you have to be patient, don't give up and have the right people behind you. It's to be expected that some towns will put up resistance. Those families that succeed are those who make up their mind they are going to see it through and who have a supporter who manages the process for them.

There are several practical plans that have worked for BuildX clients in towns that are not ADU friendly. In one situation a town that was against the ADU process finally agreed to allow a deed restriction on the main house so that a bedroom's septic capacity could transfer over to the ADU. That compromise needed negotiation, knowledge of how Title V allocations work, and a willingness to work through the early opposition. In another town, a septic field that was oversized and put in years ago actually worked in the homeowner's favor. All we had to do was add another septic tank and connect to the leaching field that was there, and it saved a lot of money and time.

If you do not have the resources to fight a difficult town on your own, there is another way to handle it. Find other homeowners in your area who want to build ADUs and work together. A group of five families asking for reasonable ADU regulations at town meetings will carry more weight than just one homeowner. And if the town's bylaws are too restrictive, the Attorney General review process gives you a way to move forward anyway.

Can a Water Moratorium or Utility Restriction Stop My ADU?

Some towns have tried to use utility restrictions, usually water prohibitions as a way to stop ADU construction. This raises an important question. If you are connecting into the current water connection in the main house, can a town legally say that a water restriction applies to your ADU?

The legal answer to that question is still being decided. What we know is that the Affordable Homes Act was designed to prevent towns from coming up with unconventional ways to ban ADUs. Water restrictions for a new subdivision and new connections might not apply to an ADU that shares the current water service to the main house. This subtle difference in meaning needs careful evaluation on a project-by-project basis.

The same logic works with other inventive obstacles towns may try. The legislation is clear in it's intention: municipalities can't prohibit ADUs through unreasonable regulation. When a town tries to use an existing policy, such as a water prohibition, an argument about how much the infrastructure can hold, or tries to apply extra regulations dealing with the environment to block what the state has explicitly allowed, the Attorney General's office will probably look at those closely.

Is Fighting Your Town Always Worth It?

We would not be doing you a favor if we said that every battle with the town is worth fighting at any cost. The truth is that for some homeowners the time, stress, and possible legal expenses for getting through a resistant town's process are more than the benefits. If your town is just in the early stages of adopting ADU regulations and you are not comfortable testing the process as the first applicant, then waiting six to twelve months for someone else to set the precedent is a logical thing to do.

We also want to be very clear about our role. BuildX is a design-build company that builds ADUs. So that means we benefit when families decide to go forward with the building process. You should think about our perspective with that in mind. We can say confidently that the laws are on your side. The question isn't if you have the right but whether the timing and the process will work for your family.

If you are facing a town that is making it difficult, be sure and talk to multiple builders. Also speak with an attorney who specializes in municipal law and always get a second opinion. Then if you decide to go ahead with the project, just make sure you have a builder who understands all the regulations and is willing to fight for your project, not one who tells you to go get your own permit.

Your Town Cannot Stop You. The Question Is What Comes Next.

The Massachusetts Affordable Homes Act gave homeowners the right to build an ADU on their property. Towns can set reasonable rules, but they can't stop you from building. Any local bylaw that goes too far has to be reviewed by the Attorney General's office. So if you have been getting a no answer from your town, that may not be the final word.

The families who succeed are the ones who know their rights, put together the right team, and make a commitment to see the process to the finish. Whether your town is welcoming or resistant, to move forward you must understand from the beginning exactly what is possible on your property.