Charlotte Approves First No-Hassle Duplex Under New Housing Rules

Under Charlotte's new Unified Development Ordinance, a duplex stands ready on Toddville Road. Habitat for Humanity built it without special permits, a first for the city's fresh take on housing.

Two homes now split the costs of one plot, cutting prices for buyers. "This lot would've been too expensive for us to develop a single-family home on," said Rebecca Oring, Habitat's director of government, grants, and advocacy, per Spectrum News 1.

Since June 2023, builders can put duplexes where once only single homes stood. Gone are the time-eating steps that made construction slow and costly.

Each day, 115 newcomers pick Charlotte as their home. The city's rules aim to meet this surge with more living options.

"It's been something that comes with its own conversations, challenges, and opportunities. For us to imagine our new neighborhoods with a diversity of housing types, that have duplexes, triplexes, all nestled within single-family houses," said Monica Holmes of the City of Charlotte.

Rob Nanfelt of the Real Estate & Building Industry Coalition points out that limits still exist. "It's not like you can put a duplex anywhere that you have a single-family home currently. There are constraints. But where it's possible, it's great because instead of one family being able to enjoy the joys of homeownership, now you have two."

Next up: Legacy Vista. This 14-unit mix of houses and duplexes will rise behind the Toddville Road site.

"Without it, it would have been too expensive. We would not have been able to spread the land and infrastructure costs over as many units," Oring said about the new rules making Legacy Vista work.

While some locals worry about packed streets, these shifts mark big steps toward better housing choices. The rules match Charlotte's 2040 vision for growth, opening doors for more would-be homeowners.