Home reno priorities now

Home renovation is looking less like a flip strategy and more like a stay-put strategy. A new HousingWire report on Block Renovation’s 2026 survey says 68% of 1,059 U.S. homeowners renovate for livability, while about 17% are considering or planning an accessory dwelling unit, which is a small second home on the same lot as a primary house. (housingwire.com) That shift changes the first question a homeowner should ask before spending money. Instead of asking whether a project will impress the next buyer, the data points toward asking whether it will make the next five or ten years of daily life easier, more comfortable, or more flexible. (housingwire.com) The timing matters because the usual reasons to move are still expensive. HousingWire says homeowners are pushing ahead with remodeling even with inflation and elevated interest rates affecting budgets, which means many households are treating renovation as the cheaper alternative to buying a different home at a higher monthly cost. (housingwire.com) “Livability” sounds vague until you translate it into rooms and routines. In practice, livability usually means kitchens that function better on busy mornings, bathrooms that reduce friction for families, storage that cuts clutter, and layouts that work for remote jobs, aging parents, or children who need study space. The survey’s emphasis on functionality and flexibility points in that direction. (housingwire.com) The accessory dwelling unit number is the clearest clue about where homeowner thinking is headed. A 17% planning or consideration rate is notable because an accessory dwelling unit is not a cosmetic upgrade like paint or countertops; it is a structural decision that adds a separate living space for family, caregivers, guests, or renters. (housingwire.com; huduser.gov) The federal definition helps explain why these projects keep coming up. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development describes accessory dwelling units as small, independent homes on the same lot as a single-family house, and says they can be attached to the main home or built as standalone structures with their own kitchen and bathroom. (huduser.gov) That makes the accessory dwelling unit less like an add-on room and more like a pressure valve for modern households. A backyard cottage can house a parent who should not live alone, an adult child priced out of the rental market, or a tenant whose rent helps offset mortgage and renovation costs. Those uses line up with HousingWire’s note that multigenerational households and interest in flexible space are rising together. (housingwire.com; huduser.gov) Cities are also making these projects easier to picture and, in some places, easier to build. New York City opened an application portal for ancillary dwelling units on September 30, 2025, and paired it with a pre-approved plan library, while Chicago said on April 2, 2026, that an ordinance had taken effect that more than doubled the number of parcels eligible for additional dwelling units. (nyc.gov; chicago.gov) That does not mean every renovation should chase an accessory dwelling unit. These projects are expensive, highly local, and tied to zoning, permits, lot size, utility connections, and code rules, so the survey is best read as a signal about homeowner intent rather than a claim that every property can support a second unit. (nyc.gov; chicago.gov) The practical takeaway is simpler than the market jargon. If your project solves a daily problem you already feel, like a cramped kitchen, a missing bathroom, poor storage, or no private space for family, it fits the 68% logic. If your project mainly exists to chase a hypothetical resale premium, it sits outside the center of where homeowners say they are spending now. (housingwire.com) That distinction can help with budgeting before a contractor ever walks through the door. Projects aimed at livability can be judged by time saved, stress reduced, and space gained, while speculative projects depend on future buyer tastes, future mortgage rates, and future neighborhood pricing that no homeowner can fully control in April 2026. (housingwire.com) The survey does not say resale value is irrelevant. It says the center of gravity has moved toward usefulness first, which is what you would expect in a market where moving is hard, borrowing is costly, and households need one property to do more jobs than it used to. (housingwire.com) If there is one sentence to keep from the data, it is this: homeowners are remodeling for the life they have, not just the sale they might someday want. And when nearly 1 in 6 are already thinking about a second living unit on the same lot, “home improvement” starts to mean changing how a property works, not just changing how it looks. (housingwire.com; huduser.gov)