New York ADU Grant: Plus One Program Status, Amounts & How to Apply in 2026

Is there really a New York ADU grant in 2026?

Answer capsule: Yes. New York’s Plus One ADU Program is a state-backed initiative funded by an $85 million allocation in the 2022–2023 state capital budget, administered through selected local governments and nonprofit partners rather than a single statewide homeowner portal. Homeowners apply through a local program administrator only if their municipality is one of the participating areas.

Why “grant” doesn’t always mean a no-strings check

Here’s the honest part you’ll find nowhere on page one: the word “grant” is doing a lot of work. Outside NYC, the money is generally a forgivable grant — you don’t repay it if you keep meeting the rules for a regulatory period of at least 10 years. Break the rules or sell early, and a declining-balance repayment can kick in. Inside NYC, a big chunk of the “$395,000” is actually a loan. We decode all of it below. None of this is a reason to walk away — for the right homeowner this is one of the highest-dollar public ADU subsidy paths published anywhere in the country — but you should know what you’re signing before you spend a dollar on design.

How much can you get from the New York ADU grant?

Answer capsule: Outside New York City, local Plus One programs commonly publish up to $112,500–$125,000 in total forgivable grant support, but that figure includes design, permitting, oversight, and administration — leaving less for construction. In New York City, the combined package reaches up to $395,000: up to $175,000 in HCR grant funds plus up to a $220,000 HPD loan, subject to income limits and underwriting.

The dollar figure depends on which track you’re in, and even within the statewide track, administrators set their own caps. Here is the comparison no single official page assembles:

Sources: HCR Plus One Gap Loan RFA (Jan 2026); NYC HPD live Plus One page, term sheet & FAQ; CDLI; RUPCO. Figures are program maximums and eligibility ceilings, not guarantees — your actual award depends on project scope, underwriting, and current funding. Verified May 26, 2026.

The number nobody tells you: headline amount vs. construction cash

This is the most valuable thing on this page, and it comes straight from the administrators’ own published rules. “Up to $125,000” is not $125,000 of construction money.

Community Development Long Island (CDLI), which runs Plus One for Babylon, East Hampton, Shelter Island, and Southampton, states it plainly: the program may provide up to $125,000 in forgivable grant funds, but that total includes CDLI program support — design, permitting, construction oversight, closeout, and ongoing compliance. The amount actually available for construction is up to $115,000 — and you only reach that ceiling if you cover your own pre-development costs, like hiring your own architect (CDLI Plus One FAQ, verified May 26, 2026).

The Long Island Housing Partnership (LIHP), which runs the program for Huntington and other Suffolk towns, publishes the same split — up to $125,000 with $112,500 usable for construction — and adds the figure that should reset every Long Island homeowner’s expectations: the average cost of a new ADU build can exceed $175,000 (LIHP Huntington program guidelines, verified May 26, 2026). TAP Inc., the Albany/Troy administrator, discloses that up to 10% of the grant can go to administration and optional in-house design. RUPCO, covering the Hudson Valley, publishes a lower headline cap of $112,500 to start (rupco.org, verified April 8, 2026).

The lesson: ask your administrator one specific question — “How much of this is construction cash after your fees?” — before you build a budget around the headline number. On Long Island, the gap between a ~$113K–$115K grant and a $175K+ build is the gap you’ll need to finance. That’s not a reason to skip the grant; it’s a reason to plan the rest.

How NYC’s money is structured

NYC’s “$395,000” is two things stacked: up to a $175,000 grant from HCR that isn’t repaid, and up to a $220,000 loan from HPD that is. These loan terms are the government program’s own — interest can drop to 0% and the term can stretch toward 30 years based on income, and if you genuinely can’t carry payments, the loan can convert to a deferred-forgivable loan with no monthly payments and forgiveness over time (NYC HPD term sheet and FAQ, verified May 26, 2026). Treat the grant as the gift and the loan as financing.

Is NYC’s ADU grant different from the rest of New York?

Answer capsule: Yes, substantially. New York City runs a higher-dollar, higher-income-cap version of Plus One ($395,000 combined; 165% AMI) administered by HPD and Restored Homes HDFC, with an intake window that closes June 12, 2026. The rest of the state runs the $125,000 / 120% AMI version through local administrators on rolling, town-by-town windows.

NYC eligibility and property rules

NYC allows eligible homeowners up to 165% AMI, and HPD’s live program page says preference goes to households at or below 120% AMI. (An older HPD FAQ still references a 100% AMI priority — if the threshold matters to your application, confirm the current number with HPD/Restored Homes.)

Sources: NYC HPD live Plus One page, FAQ, term sheet; NYC Mayor’s Office release (Mar 2026). Verified May 26, 2026.

Is my city or town in the Plus One ADU program? New York ADU grant status by city and town

Answer capsule: Maybe — Plus One’s network spans more than 80 New York communities through 14 local administrators, clustered in NYC, Long Island, the Hudson Valley, Westchester, the Capital Region, Buffalo, and Central New York. If your municipality isn’t covered by an active administrator, you generally cannot apply for Plus One funds.

This is the table that would otherwise cost you five to ten browser tabs. We assembled it from HCR’s official municipality roster and cross-checked status against each administrator’s own page. Where we confirmed a live window, we say so; where we couldn’t, we say “confirm” honestly rather than guess.

Sources: hcr.ny.gov/adu roster; CDLI, LIHP, RUPCO, Habitat NYC & Westchester, Hudson River Housing (Amenia), Housing Action Council (Tarrytown), TAP, BURA — each verified at the date shown. Statuses change quickly; “confirm” means the town participates per HCR’s roster but the live window should be confirmed with the administrator before you rely on it.

Don’t see your town? HCR maintains a program-expansion interest form, linked directly from its official Plus One ADU page. It won’t get you a grant today, but municipal demand factors into where HCR onboards next.

What are the income limits for the New York ADU grant?

Answer capsule: Income caps are set per administrator and tied to county Area Median Income — generally up to 120% AMI outside NYC and up to 165% AMI inside NYC. Because AMI varies by county and household size, the binding number is always your administrator’s current chart. CDLI’s Long Island threshold for a four-person household, for example, is $197,160.

AMI — Area Median Income — is the midpoint household income for your county, published annually by the federal government and adjusted for household size. “120% AMI” means your household can earn up to 1.2 times that midpoint. Because the midpoint in Westchester is far higher than in Sullivan County, the dollar cutoff that binds you is your county’s.

We pulled CDLI’s actual published income table for Nassau/Suffolk — most pages won’t give you hard numbers:

Source: CDLI Plus One income guidelines, verified May 26, 2026. CDLI cites $197,160 as its current Nassau/Suffolk four-person threshold.

CDLI, LIHP, TAP, and Habitat each publish their own local tables, so don’t assume Long Island’s numbers apply upstate. For NYC, HPD’s published 165% AMI figure for a two-person household is roughly $186,450; HPD’s live AMI chart is the binding reference for your exact household size.

The “too rich or too poor” worry

Two opposite fears come up constantly. Higher earners assume they’re over the cap — and outside NYC, the 120% line is genuinely tight, which is exactly why NYC’s 165% ceiling drives such heavy demand. On the other end, lower-income owners assume the program “isn’t for them” — but the statewide track is built for low-to-moderate-income owner-occupants, and several administrators give scoring preference to lower-income applicants. If you own your home and live in it, you’re in the target zone. The only way to know your exact standing is your administrator’s chart.

What ADU types can the grant pay for?

Answer capsule: Plus One can fund new ADUs and the legalization of existing ones, but the permitted type depends on local zoning and site conditions. Eligible types across New York programs include detached backyard cottages, garage and carriage-house conversions, basement apartments, attic conversions, and attached additions. In NYC, ADUs are capped at 800 square feet and every project requires DOB permits and professional filing.

What are the strings attached if you accept the grant?

Answer capsule: The money is real, but it carries long-term housing-use obligations. Depending on location and structure, homeowners accept owner-occupancy, a prohibition on short-term rentals, a regulatory period of at least 10 years (up to 15 on some NYC loan paths), a recorded deed covenant, and declining-balance repayment if you sell early or break the rules.

This is the section that doesn’t sell, which is exactly why most pages skip it. We include it because hiding it would be the fastest way to lose your trust — and because for most people building long-term housing, these terms are entirely livable once understood.

Drawing from CDLI’s, LIHP’s, Habitat’s, and HPD’s published terms (verified May 26, 2026):

• A regulatory period of at least 10 years. You enter a regulatory agreement with monitoring that can include site visits roughly every two years. Some NYC rent-restricted loan paths run 15 years.
• Owner-occupancy. You must keep living on the property. This is not a vehicle for an absentee investor. In NYC, one unit must remain your primary residence — you generally cannot rent out both the main home and the ADU.
• Not an Airbnb path. Local administrators like Habitat and TAP bar short-term and vacation rental use outright. In NYC, separate citywide short-term-rental rules bar renting a unit for fewer than 30 days unless the host lives there — making ADU Airbnb use highly restricted regardless.
• A recorded deed covenant. CDLI requires a deed covenant filed with the County Clerk. It runs with the property and shows up in title searches.
• Declining-balance recapture. Per CDLI, on early sale or non-compliance within the regulatory period, grant funds are subject to repayment on a simple annual declining-balance basis — the longer you comply, the less you could owe.
• Reimbursement-only disbursement. An operational reality almost no page mentions: CDLI pays grant funds on a reimbursement basis only — no advance payments to contractors. Funds flow in progress payments at 50% and 100% completion, with 10% held until a Certificate of Occupancy is issued. You or your contractor often need working capital to float the job before reimbursement arrives.
• You’ll likely contribute your own money. Administrators expect a homeowner contribution once grant funds are exhausted, and may require proof of that funding before construction. If your project exceeds the grant, you either reduce scope or document additional funds.

The damaging admission, stated plainly: for a higher-income homeowner, someone planning to sell or refinance soon, or anyone counting on short-term rental income, the New York ADU grant may be the wrong money. Cheap money with restrictions can cost more than flexible money if it blocks your actual plan. If that’s you, the financing section is the cleaner path. If your goal is housing a family member or earning steady long-term rental income while you stay put, these terms are very livable — and this is among the best ADU money available.

How do I apply for the New York ADU grant?

Answer capsule: You apply through the administrator serving your municipality, not a single statewide form. NYC homeowners start with the HPD/Restored Homes intake survey; everyone else starts with HCR’s participating-municipality list and the local administrator’s application or interest form.

A clean seven-step path:

1. Find your municipality in the status table above (or HCR’s roster).
2. Confirm intake is open — “open,” “waitlist/closed,” “rolling,” and “pending contract” are very different states. Babylon is waitlist-only right now while two other CDLI towns are open; Amenia takes rolling pre-applications.
3. Check your income band against the administrator’s current AMI chart.
4. Confirm zoning and property type — even with grant money, your local zoning has to allow the unit. (For NYC zoning and rules specifically, see our New York ADU laws and NYC zoning rules guide.)
5. Gather documents — typically consecutive pay stubs, tax returns, bank statements, mortgage statement, proof of insurance, and proof that taxes are current.
6. Do not start reimbursable work without program clearance. Grant funds reimburse approved work; spending ahead of approval risks getting nothing back.
7. Ask the right questions before you sign (below).

Questions to ask your local program administrator

• Is intake open, or is this an interest form/waitlist?
• What is the current maximum award — and how much of it is construction cash after your fees?
• What income limit applies to my household size this year?
• What happens if my project costs more than the grant?
• Can I use my own contractor and architect? (NYC answer: generally no — Restored Homes provides approved architects and general contractors. CDLI and Habitat may allow homeowner-selected vendors if program requirements are met.)
• What deed covenant or regulatory agreement gets recorded?
• What exactly triggers repayment, and how does the declining balance work?
• Are family occupants treated differently from tenants?
• How and when are funds disbursed — and do I need to float costs before reimbursement?

Can the grant legalize an existing basement, garage, or illegal ADU?

Answer capsule: Sometimes. HCR explicitly allows Plus One to support bringing an existing ADU into compliance with local and state code, and NYC addresses basement legalization — but flood zones, a 7-foot ceiling-height minimum, egress, and zoning issues can make some units infeasible, and reimbursement is never automatic.

The program was designed partly to convert New York’s large stock of informal and unpermitted units into safe, legal, code-compliant housing. HCR’s language covers improving an existing ADU “that needs to be brought into compliance.” In NYC, basement legalization is a recognized use, but it’s also where projects most often die on feasibility: HPD requires the basement space to meet ceiling-height rules and sit outside the 2050 stormwater flood area and the 2080 100-year coastal flood zone before conversion. A cellar that fails height or egress, or sits in the wrong flood zone, may simply not qualify. Before spending money to legalize, get a feasibility read on the specific space — the grant won’t rescue a unit that can’t meet code.

Will the grant cover the full cost of an ADU?

Answer capsule: Outside NYC, often no. A $112,500–$125,000 grant — with only ~$112,500–$115,000 usable for construction — rarely covers a detached new build, which can exceed $175,000 in the downstate market per LIHP’s own figures. NYC’s larger combined package goes further but is still bounded by scope, underwriting, and the loan/grant split.

A detached backyard cottage with its own foundation and utility laterals is the priciest ADU type, and in much of downstate New York the all-in cost outruns the grant — LIHP puts the average new ADU build above $175,000. Garage and basement conversions fit a grant far more comfortably because the shell already exists. When a project exceeds the grant, your administrator gives you two choices: reduce scope, or document additional funds. That’s where financing comes in — and where the grant should be your first path checked, not your only one. See what an ADU actually costs to build before finalizing your budget.

What if my town isn’t listed, intake is closed, or the grant isn’t enough?

Answer capsule: If your town isn’t on HCR’s roster, Plus One likely can’t help yet — but homeowners build ADUs across New York every day without a grant. The practical next moves are to verify local zoning, submit any official expansion/interest form, and compare non-grant financing paths such as cash-out refinance, renovation loans, construction loans, or home equity.

The grant is narrow by design, and plenty of New Yorkers fall just outside it — over the income cap, in a non-participating town, or facing a build that outruns the cap. Here are the main financing lanes, framed by situation rather than ranked. For the full New York ADU financing lane breakdown, see our New York ADU financing guide.

A HELOC is a home equity line of credit — a revolving credit line secured by your home. A cash-out refinance replaces your existing mortgage with a larger one and gives you the difference in cash. These put your home up as collateral, so they’re tools, not free money. Recheck the grant roster quarterly, too — HCR keeps onboarding new municipalities, and your town may join.

These are illustrative examples, not guarantees of returns. Actual results depend on local market conditions, construction costs, financing terms, and regulatory approvals.

Also useful: ADU financing for lower-income homeowners · financing an ADU on a fixed income · compare New York with other state ADU grant programs

Can the ADU grant affect my taxes, rent, or ability to sell or refinance?

Answer capsule: Yes. An ADU can raise your assessed value, and the grant’s covenant restricts rent, occupancy, and resale flexibility for the regulatory period. But several New York counties now offset the tax hit: Albany and Ulster counties each adopted ADU property-tax exemptions in 2025 that fully exempt the added assessed value for five years, then phase it out over five more.

What should I do before I apply?

Answer capsule: Before applying, confirm your municipality is active, check your income band against the current AMI chart, verify owner-occupancy and property type, confirm local zoning and (in NYC) flood/ceiling/egress feasibility, clear any open violations, and decide whether you can accept the regulatory period. Then ask your administrator how much of the award is construction cash.

A 10-minute pre-application gut check:

• Is my town listed and intake open?
• Is my household income under the cap for my size?
• Do I own and live in the home?
• Does my zoning allow the ADU type I want?
• Are there open violations on the property?
• Can I float construction costs given reimbursement-only disbursement?
• Am I comfortable with a 10-year (or longer) covenant and no short-term rentals?
• Do I have a realistic plan for costs above the grant?

If you answered yes down the line, you’re a strong candidate. If a few are “no,” the financing path may serve you better than the grant. Either way, the next step is the same: confirm what your specific lot can actually support. Also useful: paying for an ADU to house aging parents and financing an ADU built for rental income.

Frequently asked questions

Does New York give grants for ADUs?

Yes. Through the Plus One ADU Program, eligible owner-occupants can receive forgivable grant support — up to $125,000 in most of the state, or up to $395,000 (grant plus loan) in New York City — administered through local program administrators.

How much is the New York ADU grant?

Up to $125,000 statewide (some administrators cap at $112,500, and only about $112,500–$115,000 may be usable for construction after fees), or up to $395,000 in NYC, structured as a $175,000 grant plus a $220,000 loan.

Is NYC Plus One ADU open right now?

Yes, as of May 2026. NYC reopened the program March 18, 2026; the interest/intake window closes June 12, 2026. The intake survey conveys interest — eligible homeowners are later sent a formal application with a $200 non-refundable fee.

Is the NYC ADU grant really $395,000?

It's a combined figure: up to $175,000 in HCR grant funds that aren't repaid, plus up to a $220,000 HPD loan that is (at 0–5%, or deferred-forgivable if you can't afford payments).

Who qualifies for the New York Plus One ADU Program?

Generally, owner-occupants in a participating municipality with household income at or below the AMI cap (120% statewide, 165% in NYC with preference to 120% and below), current on mortgage and taxes, building a code-compliant ADU their zoning allows.

What are the income limits?

Up to 120% AMI outside NYC and up to 165% AMI in NYC, adjusted by county and household size. CDLI's Long Island four-person threshold is $197,160; your administrator's current chart is the binding number.

Do I apply through New York State or my city/town?

Through your local program administrator, never the state directly. NYC uses HPD/Restored Homes intake; other areas use the administrator listed on HCR's roster.

What if my town isn't on the HCR list?

You generally can't apply for Plus One yet. Submit HCR's program-expansion interest form, confirm your local zoning, and compare non-grant financing paths in the meantime.

Can I use the grant for a detached backyard ADU or a basement apartment?

Yes, if your local zoning permits it and it meets code. Detached cottages are the costliest type and often exceed the grant; basement and garage conversions fit a grant more comfortably. NYC caps ADUs at 800 square feet.

Can I use my own contractor?

Outside NYC, sometimes — CDLI and Habitat may allow homeowner-selected vendors that meet requirements. In NYC, Restored Homes provides approved architects and general contractors, so you generally cannot bring your own.

Can I use the ADU as an Airbnb?

No. Plus One requires permanent housing; short-term rentals are barred. NYC's separate citywide short-term-rental rules restrict it further, and Albany and Ulster county tax exemptions also exclude short-term rentals.

Will I have to pay the grant back?

The grant is forgivable if you keep the rules for the regulatory period (at least 10 years, up to 15 on some NYC loan paths). Sell early or fall out of compliance and a declining-balance recapture can require partial repayment.

Can I rent the ADU to a family member?

Often yes — Plus One supports multigenerational housing as well as affordable rentals. Confirm how your administrator treats family occupants versus tenants.

Does an ADU raise my property taxes?

It can, by raising assessed value. Under RPTL § 421-p, counties can opt into an ADU exemption — Albany and Ulster fully exempt the increase for five years, then phase it out over five more. Check whether your county opted in.

Methodology

We started with HCR’s official Plus One ADU page and participating-municipality list, then checked NYC HPD’s live program page, term sheet, and FAQ, and individual local administrator pages (CDLI, LIHP, RUPCO, Habitat NYC & Westchester, Hudson River Housing, Housing Action Council, TAP, BURA) for published intake status, maximum support, income limits, restrictions, and application steps. We cross-checked dollar figures across sources and surfaced the conflicts we found rather than smoothing them over. Where a status changes quickly or a source disagreed with another, we label it for confirmation with the administrator. The Dwelling Index is an independent research resource covering ADU financing, costs, and regulations; we are not a lender, builder, government agency, attorney, or tax advisor. Last verified: May 26, 2026.