By the Numbers: More Flexibility Needed to Build Accessory Homes in Florida

A statewide review of zoning laws reveals patchy rules, hidden barriers, and missed opportunities—proving why Florida needs stronger accessory home policies to meet its housing needs.

You might recognize accessory homes by many names: accessory dwelling units (ADUs), garage apartments, granny flats, mother-in-law suites, and carriage houses. No matter the name, they are a valuable tool to increase the supply of affordable rental housing through their small size, to support multigenerational living and aging in place, and to unlock buildable land close to jobs and community amenities. They also expand the tent of home providers, engaging homeowners to build more residences in their backyards.

On the long list of ways to increase affordable housing supply, legalizing accessory homes is one of the most incremental changes a city or county can make. But here’s the thing: if allowed broadly, ADUs can have an outsized impact on a community’s housing stock. ADUs a great first step for communities that are nervous about change but know something needs to give. Think of them as an on-ramp to more flexible, people-friendly housing policy.

Right now, Florida law only encourages—but doesn’t require—local governments to allow accessory homes to be built where single-family homes are allowed under their local zoning and land use policies. Some cities have stepped up, but it’s still a patchwork of policies statewide. Many localities restrict where and how ADUs can be built or attach burdensome requirements that make them hard to finance or rent.

During the last legislative session, Senate Bill 184 aimed to change that. The bill, which died at the very end of session, would have:

• Required all local governments in Florida to allow ADUs in areas zoned for single-family homes

• Prevented localities from banning ADUs as rental homes

• Limited local restrictions on owner-occupancy and parking

Whether you were for or against Senate Bill 184, at some level, we need flexibility to build more accessory homes. Why? Because a review of local ordinances shows that we still have a long way to go to allow these types of homes and regulating them in a way so they will actually get built.

The Issue with Current ADU Policies

To truly understand the scope of changes required to facilitate accessory homes, the Florida Housing Coalition reviewed local ADU zoning rules across the state. We looked at ADU policies for all 67 counties and the largest 53 cities—those that receive state affordable housing dollars through the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP) program and, importantly, represent some of the fast-growing and most populated places in Florida.

Our goal? To find out how local rules are either helping—or quietly blocking—the development of accessory homes. We focused on these areas for two reasons:

1. That’s where most people live. More population = more potential for impact.

2. That’s where state housing money goes. When state affordable housing dollars are distributed, they go further in places with flexible zoning that allows for a range of housing types—including ADUs.

If accessory homes aren’t clearly allowed in local code, then even the best funding in the world won’t help you build one. You can’t finance a home that technically doesn’t exist in the eyes of your local government.

What We Found: A Patchwork of Missed Opportunities

Here’s what stood out from our review:

• 1 in 5 cities (21%) don’t have clear, accessible rules about whether ADUs are allowed at all.

  • This is a huge problem. If the rules aren’t easy to find or don’t exist in plain language, how is a homeowner—who likely isn’t a zoning expert—supposed to know if they can build? Including explicit allowances is the first step to help builders, especially homeowners for whom development is not necessarily their day job, clearly understand that these homes are possible.

• In cities and counties where ADUs are allowed, the fine print often paints a very different picture. Some of the most common barriers include:

  • Zoning restrictions that only allow ADUs in a fraction of single-family neighborhoods

  • Rental limitations that prevent homeowners from offering ADUs as long-term rentals

  • Owner-occupancy rules that require the homeowner to live on-site or even be the employer of the tenant

  • Parking mandates that eat up yard space or make the project infeasible altogether

The highlighted stats are just the beginning of the barriers and don’t include the more nuanced discretionary approval, rental, and site design requirements on the books that further discourage accessory home construction. All these regulations add up, resulting in fewer homes, higher costs, and overall missed opportunities to address our need for available, affordable homes that meet our needs.

Counts include additional living spaces without kitchens, where that is the only form of accessory living space permitted.

The Bottom Line

A statewide analysis we ran of 2.4 million single-family parcels found that 81% have enough available lot area to accommodate an ADU under conservative setback requirements. This reveals enormous potential already embedded within our neighborhoods.

Let that sink in. Over 2 million parcels could host an additional home—without changing the character of a neighborhood, building new roads, or requiring new land. That’s an incredible amount of untapped potential already embedded in our communities.

The Opportunity is There — If We’re Willing to Act

We already know the policy pathways:

• Statewide legislation that would permit accessory homes in residential areas with a few clear, fair rules

• Local governments taking the lead and modernizing their zoning codes

On this last point, it’s worth highlighting the Florida communities already showing us what’s possible:

• Plantation, Tampa, Largo last year, as well as Pasco County more recently, all updated their zoning codes to expand accessory home allowances.

• Tallahassee went even further. In its Multi-Modal Transportation District, the city now permits up to two ADUs on a single lot that also contains a duplex—effectively allowing up to four homes on one site. Regulations they did retain, such as setbacks and lot coverage of the principal unit, thoughtfully balanced the additional home allowances with considerations such as stormwater management. Their example shows how a bold initiative integrates other key considerations to keep our communities affordable and accessible, as well as functional and quality places to live.

Florida is facing a housing crunch—and our current zoning laws are part of the problem. Accessory dwelling units offer a flexible, low-cost way to create more homes and compact development without heavy public spending. It’s time to empower homeowners and unlock the potential of thousands of underused lots across Florida. Let’s get to work.