We were recently asked by a person inquiring about zoning how many people can live in a personal residence located in a single-family zoning district. The answer depends on local, state, and federal law, specifically the Fair Housing Act.
According to the Federal Occupancy Standards set by Housing and Urban Development, seven people can live in a three-bedroom house with a separate living room. The number may be smaller if the people are unrelated. HUD guidelines also state that each person should have 165 square feet in a home. So, an 11 x 15 bedroom can hold one person, but a 15 x 22 bedroom can hold two people.
However, occupancy and square footage of a home do not always answer the question. The Fair Housing Act prohibits local regulations from discriminating against the handicapped and requires localities to take affirmative steps to accommodate them. Failure to do so can lead to judicial intervention or substantial civil penalties. That means, group homes, Oxford homes and other type of rehabilitation facilites may be exempt from local rules.
Most local cities in Michigan use a formula based on the square footage of a residential home to determine the maximum amount of occupancy in a single family home. You can find the city of Detroit occupancy formula in Detroit Zoning Ordinance 9-407 and 9-1-404. Again, this is the starting point of the analysis. A review of the type of use is critical so that compliance with the Fair Housing Act occurs.
The rule of thumb is to check the zoning code of your local municipality to determine the maximum number of people who can live in a residential home. The answer will be in the occupancy section of the code or in the definitional section of the ordinance that defines “family.”
Please get in touch with one of the professionals at Dalton & Tomich PLC to answer your questions about the application of land use and zoning laws to your property in Michigan.
