Florida ADU Law in 2026: What Homeowners Can Actually Do

If you’ve read anything online about Florida ADUs in the last six months, you’ve probably seen articles saying a state law is about to allow ADUs everywhere. That’s not accurate. The bill those articles were about — Florida SB 48 — failed on the last day of the 2026 legislative session. There is no new statewide ADU law.

What Florida does have is a two-layer system that existed before SB 48 and still governs every ADU decision in the state:

1. Your county’s own zoning rules — where almost every ADU permit actually comes from.
2. Florida’s optional affordable ADU law — a state law counties may use to allow lower-cost rental ADUs. Most Central Florida counties haven’t adopted it.

This page explains both, shows you where each of the nine Central Florida counties stands today, and gives you a clear next step.

Your county’s rules (what applies to most people)

Every Florida county sets its own rules for ADUs. The things that govern your project — size limits, setbacks, parking requirements, owner-occupancy rules, short-term rental restrictions — all come from your county’s own code, not from state law.

Your county might call the unit an “accessory dwelling,” a “guest house,” an “in-law suite,” or “accessory living quarters” depending on when they last updated their code. Different names, same idea.

This is the layer that applies to almost everyone. Start with your county page.

Florida’s optional affordable ADU law (applies only in specific cases)

Florida also has a state law that counties may use to allow ADUs specifically as affordable rentals. Counties can ignore it — and most Central Florida counties have. Here’s what it says in plain terms:

• A county can only use this option if it first documents a local shortage of affordable rentals.
• If a county uses it, you must sign a written promise to rent your ADU to a lower-income tenant.
• “Lower income” is defined by federal guidelines updated each April. In the Orlando area (Orange, Seminole, Osceola, and Lake counties), a one-bedroom ADU rented to a “low-income” household can charge about $1,580/month maximum, including utilities. That drops to roughly $990 for “very low income” and $590 for “extremely low income.”
• The county gets to count your ADU toward its affordable housing goals.

What this law does NOT do: It doesn’t override your county’s zoning rules, guarantee you the right to build an ADU, set size or setback standards, limit impact fees, or override HOA rules. Those are all still up to your county (and your HOA).

Bottom line: Most Central Florida counties allow ADUs under their own local rules, no affordable-rent promise required. If you’re not sure which applies to you, ask your county planning office directly.

What the nine Central Florida counties actually allow

Here’s a quick snapshot of what’s legal today. Each link goes to the full county page with the permit process, fees, and timelines.

Orange County allows detached, attached, and garage-conversion ADUs in most single-family zones. Size cap: 750 sq ft or 50% of the primary home (whichever is less). One extra parking space required. Owner must live on the property. Short-term rentals (under 30 days) are prohibited in residential zones. Combined permit and impact fees typically run $7,500–$11,000.

Seminole County allows ADUs with a size cap of 800 sq ft or 40% of the primary home. Similar parking and owner-occupancy rules. Minimum lot size varies by zoning district — 7,500 sq ft in the more restrictive residential zones.

Osceola County allows ADUs but has the highest impact fees in the region. The county’s Tourism Corridor Overlay (a special zone around tourist areas near I-4 and US 192) adds short-term rental complications that most other counties don’t have. Confirm which overlay your parcel falls under before budgeting.

Lake County allows ADUs under a “guest house” framework — but historically with no separate kitchen allowed. That kitchen prohibition is the biggest practical limitation in the region. If your plans require a full kitchen, confirm the current rule with Lake County planning before spending money on drawings.

Polk County has relatively flexible accessory living-quarters rules. On parcels over one acre, some zoning districts allow the owner-occupancy requirement to be waived. For rural and semi-rural properties, Polk is often the easiest path in Central Florida.

Volusia County allows ADUs with some extra review for coastal and historic-district properties. Inland residential areas have the most straightforward path.

Brevard County allows detached and attached ADUs in most single-family zones. The county has taken a more permissive stance than most in Central Florida, pushed partly by workforce housing pressure from the Space Coast.

Marion County allows a detached “guest cottage” or an attached “accessory apartment” in R-1 and A-1 zones. There’s no fixed square-foot cap — the ADU just has to be smaller than your main house. Building Safety interprets “smaller” based on conditioned (heated/cooled) floor area. If you’re planning anything over roughly 1,000 sq ft, get the size interpretation in writing before paying for drawings.

Sumter County is the most restrictive in Central Florida. It does not allow rental ADUs at all. What’s allowed is a “Family Accessory Cottage” — a detached unit that can only be occupied by an immediate family member (parent, child, grandparent, grandchild, or sibling) of the property owner. You’ll sign an affidavit confirming the relationship at permit time. If you’re planning a rental ADU, look elsewhere. If you’re planning a place for family, there’s a workable path.

Important: These summaries reflect rules as of April 2026. Local codes change. Before spending money on plans, pull the current version of your county’s code from its Municode page and confirm details directly with the county planning office.

Three things that can override your county’s rules

Even if your county allows ADUs, three other factors can stop a project cold. Check all three before spending money.

1. HOA covenants and deed restrictions. If your property is in a deed-restricted community, the HOA’s rules are private contract terms that courts enforce — and no county permit can override them. A covenant that prohibits separate structures, requires HOA architectural approval, or limits the property to one household can kill an ADU project entirely, even if the county code says it’s fine.

A lot of Central Florida’s housing stock is deed-restricted: Celebration, most master-planned communities along I-4, portions of Oviedo, Lake Mary, Winter Garden, and Heathrow. Pull your recorded covenants from the county clerk’s office before you buy plans. If the covenants are silent on ADUs, they probably don’t prohibit one — but the architectural review process may still apply.

2. Historic district rules. If your property is inside a designated historic district — downtown DeLand, Sanford’s historic core, Winter Park’s historic overlay, Mount Dora’s historic district, parts of Orlando’s College Park, Edgewood, or Thornton Park — you’ll face design review on top of the standard permit process. Historic review won’t necessarily kill your project, but it can restrict materials, height, placement, and appearance in ways that add cost and time.

3. Impact fees. Impact fees are separate charges that counties (and sometimes cities and school districts) collect to fund the infrastructure a new unit will use — roads, schools, parks, fire service. A new ADU counts as a new dwelling unit in most counties, which means it can trigger all of those fees on top of the standard permit fee.

In Orange County, combined impact fees on a modest 600 sq ft ADU regularly exceed $8,000. Osceola County can run $25,000 or more — the transportation fee alone is over $21,000. Seminole, Lake, and Polk are lower but still significant. See the impact fees comparison page for the full county-by-county breakdown.

Impact fees are the single most commonly underestimated cost in ADU planning. Budget for them at the beginning, not at permit time.

The practical path in 2026

Four things are worth doing now, regardless of what happens with state law in 2027:

Pull your deed restrictions first. This is cheap and fast. Your county clerk of court has them online. If your covenants prohibit ADUs or separate structures, no county permit and no state law will override them.

Order a survey. Every jurisdiction requires one. Surveys in Central Florida typically run $600–$1,200 and stay valid for years. The work isn’t wasted if the law changes later — you’ll need it either way.

Ask your county in writing. Call the planning department and request a pre-application meeting. Ask about size limits, setbacks, parking, owner-occupancy rules, short-term rental restrictions, and impact fees for your specific parcel. Get the answer in email, not just over the phone.

Design to fit current rules. If your design works under current local code, proceed. If it doesn’t, you can either redesign to fit or wait and hope state law changes in 2027. Most homeowners are better served by the first option — projects that fit today’s rules are cheaper to permit, faster to build, and don’t depend on a bill that may not pass.

What to watch for the 2027 session

The Florida Legislature reconvenes in January 2027. The group behind SB 48 — its Senate sponsor, the Florida Housing Coalition, AARP, and others — has signaled they’ll try again. Three things are worth watching:

Whether the bill runs alone. When SB 48 was wrapped into a larger housing bill, the ADU language got cut during budget negotiations. A standalone ADU bill has a better chance of surviving on its merits.

Whether short-term rental language changes. A key sticking point in the House was whether cities could still ban ADUs from short-term rental use. A version that explicitly allows local STR rules would remove that obstacle.

Whether the county and city associations change their stance. Both Florida’s county and city lobbying groups opposed the amendment that cut the ADU language from HB 1389 in 2026 — but they did it to protect a separate tax-exemption rule, not because they supported ADUs. If the 2027 bill isn’t tangled up with that issue, their position may shift.

We’ll update this page if a bill is filed for the 2027 session or if any county changes its ADU rules. For a detailed look at what happened to SB 48, see SB 48 (2026): Why the ADU Bill Failed.

Primary sources

• Florida’s optional affordable ADU law: Fla. Stat. § 163.31771
• Orange County Code of Ordinances, Chapter 38 (Zoning): library.municode.com/fl/orange_county
• County-by-county ordinance links are on each county page.

Last verified: April 21, 2026. We update this page when county rules change or a significant bill moves in the Legislature.