Sumter County ADU Rules (2026)

Sumter County does not permit accessory dwelling units as rental or income property. That sentence is the first thing any homeowner researching an ADU in Sumter needs to understand, because it is the difference between a workable plan and a wasted design fee. What Sumter County does permit is a “Family Accessory Cottage”: a detached secondary unit that must be occupied by a member of the property owner’s immediate family. The ordinance defines the qualifying relationships narrowly: parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling of the owner or the owner’s spouse. Everyone outside that list (in-laws other than parents-in-law, nieces and nephews, cousins, adult dependents unrelated by blood, and any rental tenant) is excluded from occupancy.

The unit cannot be sold separately from the primary parcel. It cannot be rented at any duration, short-term or long-term, to anyone other than a qualifying family member. Applicants must submit a signed affidavit of family relationship at permit application, and Building Services treats that affidavit as a material representation; a violation can trigger a code enforcement action and an order to vacate.

This framework exists to serve multigenerational housing, not the rental market. If your plan depends on rental income, Sumter is the wrong county.

Lot and structure limits

For property owners whose situation fits the family-occupancy model, Sumter’s physical envelope is reasonable. The minimum lot size is a half-acre. The cottage must be at least 400 sq ft and cannot exceed 1,200 sq ft or 40 percent of the primary dwelling’s gross floor area, whichever is less. Setbacks are 10 ft rear and 7.5 ft side. Height is limited to one story, 20 ft. A separate access drive is not permitted; the cottage shares the primary dwelling’s driveway and parking.

The unit must be site-built or a permanently affixed modular structure meeting Florida Building Code. Sumter County does not permit RVs, park models, or manufactured homes to serve as Family Accessory Cottages, even temporarily.

The Villages reality check

Most residential parcels in Sumter County sit inside The Villages, which is a master-planned retirement community governed by layers of deed restrictions and HOA covenants. Those covenants, which are enforceable contract terms that courts will uphold, separately prohibit detached accessory structures in most Villages neighborhoods. A handful of older Villages neighborhoods carry less restrictive covenants; the majority prohibit anything that would qualify as a Family Accessory Cottage even if Sumter County code would allow it.

Before designing anything, pull your recorded covenants from the Sumter County Clerk of Court. If the covenants prohibit detached accessory structures, the county ordinance is irrelevant; the HOA covenant governs. If the covenants are silent or permit with architectural committee approval, you are back to the county ordinance and the family-occupancy test. The Florida ADU law pillar (or in Spanish) explains the interaction of state statute, county ordinance, and HOA covenants in more detail.

Cities

The incorporated cities inside Sumter County (Bushnell as the county seat, plus Center Hill, Coleman, Webster, and Wildwood) each have their own land development codes. Most align with the county’s Family Accessory Cottage framework. Wildwood, which administers the unincorporated Villages commercial cores, uses the same family-occupancy definition in its accessory-structure ordinance. Homeowners inside city limits should call the city directly to confirm which ordinance governs.

Income-limit context

Sumter County sits alone in the Wildwood-The Villages Metropolitan Statistical Area under HUD’s FY2025 Area Median Income schedule. The MSA was renamed from “The Villages” in the 2023 OMB delineation. Because Sumter does not permit rental ADUs at all, the Fla. Stat. § 163.31771 “affordable ADU” pathway is not operative here. The statute requires the unit to be rented to a qualifying income-limited household, and Sumter’s ordinance forbids rental outright. See the Florida ADU law pillar for how that statute works in counties that do permit rental accessory units.

Permit process

Sumter County Building Services sits at 7375 Powell Rd. in Wildwood; reach them at (352) 689-4400. The permit package includes the signed affidavit of family relationship, a survey, site plan, construction drawings, and the standard Florida Building Code submittals. Budget 10–14 weeks and $1,800–$3,200 in combined permit and impact fees for a typical cottage. Sumter applies its school impact fee to the accessory cottage notwithstanding the family-only restriction, which some applicants find surprising; verify the current fee schedule before finalizing your budget.

The Family Accessory Cottage program is documented on the county’s dedicated program page. Read that page before scheduling a pre-application meeting.