2026-09-10 · Georgia · Legislation · Did not pass

What happened. Georgia's attempt to legalise small accessory dwelling units statewide passed one chamber, was rewritten in the other, and died at sine die on 2 April 2026. For owners in community associations, the more important point is what it never proposed to do.

What HB 1166 would have done

Listed in the composite status report as “County and municipal corporations; zoning procedures; provisions,” the bill as introduced and as passed by the House would have eliminated local zoning barriers to accessory dwelling units of up to 400 square feet on homestead property zoned residential, with limited exceptions.¹

How far it got

• House Governmental Affairs; read first time 4 February 2026, second time 5 February 2026;
• favourably reported 26 February 2026;
• passed the House 6 March 2026 by committee substitute — on Crossover Day itself;
• Senate: read first time 9 March 2026, referred to State and Local Governmental Operations;
• favourably reported and read a third time 27 March 2026.

Then it stalled. Enterprise Community Partners' session wrap-up records the ending: HB 1166 was “Substituted with different Senate language; did not pass.”²

The House committee advanced it unanimously, and a substitute added a safeguard blocking institutional investors from adding ADUs to properties they own.

The part nobody covered

HB 1166 addressed local zoning. It did not address private covenants.

That distinction decides whether the bill would have mattered to most Georgians in association-governed homes — roughly one resident in four. Even had it passed, an HOA covenant prohibiting accessory structures, second dwellings or detached buildings would have remained fully enforceable.

Georgia has never enacted a covenant preemption for ADUs, and no bill in the 2025-2026 biennium proposed one.

What actually governs an ADU in a Georgia community

Two independent gates, and an owner needs to clear both:

• The zoning ordinance, which is entirely local. HB 1166 would have changed this.
• The declaration and its architectural review provisions, which are private contract. Nothing in Georgia law overrides them.

1. 2026 Composite Status Report, Session Final, Georgia House of Representatives (14 May 2026) ↩
2. Georgia 2026 Legislative Session Wrap-Up — Enterprise Community Partners ↩
3. Anderson v. Tolomato Island Property Owners Association, Inc., No. A26A0623 (Ga. Ct. App. 26 June 2026) — slip opinion ↩
4. Cotton v. Vinings Estates Community Association, Inc., No. A26A0227 (Ga. Ct. App. 6 May 2026) — slip opinion ↩
5. Senate Bill 406, as passed (26 LC 49 2879S) — signed copy, Office of the Governor ↩