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By Giulia Carbonaro
Senior Reporter
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Florida is considering allowing accessory dwelling units (ADUs), better known as "granny flats," in residential zones statewide as it tries to combat an ongoing shortage of affordable homes in the Sunshine State.
While the current legislation says that local governments can allow granny flats—independent living spaces added to homes or properties—new bills making their way to the state's chambers could require them to do so.
Why It Matters
Over the past few years, Florida—together with Texas—has been building the most new homes in the nation, driven by a major influx of out-of-state newcomers during the pandemic.
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While the rise of inventory in some of the state's most overheated markets is now contributing to bringing home prices down in these metros, Florida is still struggling with a lack of affordable homes. At the state level, home prices are still on the rise: in February, the median sale price of a home in the Sunshine State was $411,400, up 0.8 percent from a year earlier, according to Redfin data.
On top of climbing home prices, homeowners in the state are struggling with rising homeowners association (HOA) fees, high property insurance premiums, and other growing housing costs which are increasingly outpricing Floridians and forcing them to sell their homes and move.
What To Know
Earlier this month, Florida Senate and House panels approved two bills—SB 184 and HB 247—which would require the state's cities and counties to let granny flats be erected in single-family residential areas. There would be exceptions for planned unit developments or master planned communities.
Granny flats, which are essentially add-ons to existing properties with their independent living spaces, normally have their own kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area. They can be made of converted portions of an existing home, they can be an addition attached to an existing property, or they can be completely detached.
These homes, according to lawmakers pushing the bills, are cheaper to build and cost less to rent—which means they would represent an affordable option for Florida's low-income workforce.
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SB 184, which was filed in January by sponsor Sen. Don Gaetz, a Republican of Niceville, was unanimously approved by the Senate's Transportation, Tourism, and Economic Development Appropriations Committee on Tuesday, March 11. HB 247 was approved 15-2 by the House's Housing, Agriculture, and Tourism Subcommittee hours later on the same day.
The bills set out certain caveats.
While the granny flats would also face property taxes, homeowners would not lose their homestead property exemptions if they add such extensions. A change made to SB 184 by Gaetz earlier this month would also prevent granny flats from being used as short-term rentals—an issue that was raised during discussions of the bill.
Newsweek contacted Gaetz's office for comment by email on Monday morning, outside of standard working hours.
What People Are Saying
Sen. Don Gaetz said before the Senate Transportation, Tourism and Economic Development Appropriations Committee unanimously approved SB 184 on Tuesday: "ADUs (accessory dwelling units) increase workforce housing because ADUs cost less to build, they cost less to rent and they're often located in urban areas where workers need to live in order to be close to their jobs."
Sen. Carlos Guillermo Smith, a Democrat of Orlando, said in a statement reported by CBS News: "We have a real affordable housing crisis in the state of Florida, and a big part of that crisis has everything to do with supply, or lack of supply. Bringing in these ADUs to help add to the housing supply is a great idea that should be encouraged."
What Happens Next
Gaetz's SB 184 must clear the Senate Rules Committee before heading to the full Senate.
Should the bill make it through the legislature, it would then be up to Governor Ron DeSantis to sign it into law. If that happens, the bill would come into effect on July 1.
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