What is multi-generational housing?

Multi-generational housing describes homes where two or more generations of a family live under the same roof, grandparents, parents, and children, or adult siblings living with elderly parents. This arrangement is becoming more common as housing costs and caregiving needs shift.

Why does multi-generational housing matter?

This trend can affect how a board thinks about occupancy limits, parking allocations, or accessibility needs, since a multi-generational household often looks different on paper than the household size a rule was originally written for. It describes who lives in a household, not a building type or a violation in itself, and a board that treats the term as automatic grounds for an occupancy complaint risks creating a fair housing problem of its own.

When You’ll Run Into This

This becomes relevant when a board is reviewing occupancy restrictions and needs to make sure a rule written years ago still makes sense for how households live today.