Rental conversions in Buffalo

Buffalo's Green Code allows an ancillary dwelling, a unit tied to a principal dwelling on the same lot; a detached one must be lower and smaller in footprint than the main building, and no ancillary dwelling may exceed 1,000 square feet.¹⁰ Buffalo's Green Code defines a double-unit dwelling as a structure with two dwelling units, and a multiple-unit dwelling as one with three or more.¹⁰

A third unit in an old double makes it a multiple dwelling, and the certificate rules change with it. Buffalo requires the certificate of occupancy for a multiple dwelling to be renewed every five years, a rule that does not apply to owner-occupied buildings with two units or fewer.¹¹

In Buffalo, no one may rent out or allow occupancy of a dwelling unit until the owner has a rental dwelling unit registration, though owner-occupied properties with two or fewer units are exempt.¹³ A Buffalo rental registration expires one year after it is issued, and the owner must apply again within the 60 days before it lapses.¹³

Buffalo requires every one- and two-family property its owner does not live in to register as a rental, even when vacant, schedules those properties for proactive inspection, and a property that fails to qualify for a certificate of rental compliance may not operate as an income property.¹⁴ Buffalo also requires a certificate of rental compliance before a unit is rented, issued only after the unit passes an exterior and interior rental inspection, and the certificate lasts three years.¹³

New York's lead rental registry covers rental properties built before 1980 with two or more units in 25 communities of concern, including Buffalo and Cheektowaga in Erie County and Yonkers, Mount Vernon and New Rochelle in Westchester, and requires a lead hazard inspection at least every three years.¹⁵ Under the lead rental registry, a unit the owner or the owner’s immediate family lives in can be exempt from the inspection, but the other rental units in the building still have to comply.¹⁵ Buffalo will not issue a certificate of occupancy for a property with known lead-based paint violations that have not been fixed.¹¹

New York's Leading in Lead Prevention Program is a state-funded grant for fixing lead paint hazards in multi-family rental properties built before 1980 in the state's areas of concern, aimed at owners covered by the lead rental registry.¹⁶ The Erie County Health Department administers the Leading in Lead Prevention Program for Buffalo and Cheektowaga.¹⁶ Buffalo's Lead Hazard Reduction Grant provides up to $12,000 per unit to property owners in the Upper West Side and Schiller Park neighborhoods, and sends Upper West Side owners to Heart of the City Neighborhoods to check eligibility.¹⁷

New York's Plus One ADU Program, funded with $85 million in the 2022–2023 state capital budget, works through local governments and nonprofits to help low- and middle-income owner-occupants of single-family homes build a new accessory unit or bring an existing one up to code.¹⁸ HCR's list of Plus One ADU localities includes the City of Buffalo, where the Buffalo Urban Renewal Agency runs the ADU program.¹⁸ Ask the agency whether a conversion inside an existing house qualifies.

These are the national model code's rules; the city applies New York's version. The 2021 IRC requires the units of a two-family dwelling to be separated by walls and floors with at least a 1-hour fire-resistance rating, or a 1/2-hour rating if the building has an automatic sprinkler system throughout.¹⁹

The 2021 IRC requires at least one egress door for each dwelling unit, reached by a continuous path that does not pass through a garage, and opening to a public way or a yard or court that leads to one.¹⁹ In a double, that's usually the side door and a separate stair to the upper flat. The 2021 IRC requires smoke alarms in each sleeping room, outside each separate sleeping area and on every story including basements, interconnected within each dwelling unit so that one sounding sets off all of them.¹⁹ When work that needs a permit is done, the 2021 IRC requires each dwelling unit to get carbon monoxide alarms as required for new homes, with exceptions for exterior work and plumbing.¹⁹

EPA's lead renovation rule generally doesn't cover homeowners working on their own pre-1978 homes, but it does apply if you rent out all or part of your home.²⁰ Federal law requires renovation firms working in a rented home to give the renters EPA's Renovate Right pamphlet no more than 60 days before work begins.²¹

More than one in four adults 65 and older fall each year.²² Many owners fix up the lower flat for a parent. A step-free entry from the drive, a curbless shower and lever handles cost little more when they're in the first plans. NAHB's Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist (CAPS) credential trains remodelers in home modifications for aging in place.²³

The number on this page connects you, on a recorded line, to one independent company that handles rental conversions in the Buffalo area. The design, schedule and price are agreed between you and that company.

That company pays us for each call, so it costs you nothing to connect, and nobody from our side calls or texts you later. How we make money

New York State does not license home improvement contractors, but some local governments do, including New York City, the City of Buffalo, and Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester, Putnam and Rockland counties; where a local license is required, the Department of State says to hire only a licensed contractor.²⁴ Check a New York license

A New York home improvement contractor must deposit payments received before the job is finished as the Lien Law requires, or instead give the owner a bond, contract of indemnity or irrevocable letter of credit, and the contract must tell the owner so.²⁵ Make the certificate of occupancy and a passed rental inspection conditions of final payment.