ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – Orange County has unveiled “Ready, Set, Orange,” a new, forward-thinking initiative designed to streamline the construction of affordable housing.
The program, part of the county’s broader Housing for All initiative, offers residents access to eight pre-designed floorplans—four for Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) and four for small single-family homes. The aim: Reduce common barriers to homeownership by simplifying the permitting process, ultimately cutting down on costs and time.
Chief Planner for Orange County, Carter Gresham, said the county paid $10,000-15,000 for each floor plan. He said this plan would take away the cost associated with hiring an architect and simplifies the design process.
“That is money that the county took upon themselves to spend instead of it coming out of the wallets and the pocketbooks of single family, homeowners and citizens within within Orange County,” Gresham said.
Accessory Dwelling Units are also part of the Ready, Set, Orange plan. Gresham said the ADU code in Orange County rolled out in 2019 and while there was a lot of momentum behind it, he said people did not know how to begin the process of building an ADU.
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“This gives them an idea of how this truly could be built out on their site and they can start to better visualize ADUs on their home property,” Gresham said.
ADUs, smaller independent living spaces built on the same lot as a single-family home, have been permitted in Orange County since 2019. The advantage to and ADU is to provide a versatile living solution that offers options for extended family or rental opportunities without a connected addition to an existing structure.
“Ready, Set, Orange” caters to a growing need for attainable housing options that can fill the gap between large single-family homes and multi-family complexes.
“What this seeks to do is to create a lot more diversity to our housing stock, townhomes, smaller accessory dwelling units, smaller single-family homes to allow people moving to the area, people who already live in the area and are looking to transplant somewhere else in Orange County,” Gresham said. “It allows a lot more opportunities and a lot more varied housing opportunities and housing types for them.”
Floorplans range from 531 to 708 square feet for ADUs and 1,150 to 1,483 square feet for a single-family home.
However, those looking to participate in the program would still need to purchase the lot and cover the cost of the build.
“In our eyes, we’ve essentially taken out some of the soft costs that are in the more beginning of the process when it comes to hiring an architect or working with that architect and creating those floorplans,” Gresham said. “However, the actual building and the permitting those processes will still go on as normal, but a bit streamlined.”
President of the Greater Orlando Builders Association and owner of W. Robbins and Company, Wes Robbins, said this program is a step in the right direction.
“We’ve been asking the county for years, Mayor Demings and all the county commissioners, to help us, help them with housing attainability in by them coming up with this program, I think it’s a win win for everybody,” Robbins said.
Robbins said the cost of building materials have leveled out since 2020 when prices skyrocketed but said they’re still seeing prices increases on a yearly basis.
However, Robbins said he thinks Ready, Set, Orange is a good route for someone who may be looking to build a starter home and adds costs would vary depending on finishes.
“The appliance package alone could be very expensive,” Robbins said. “But, you know, new home construction these days is going to be several hundred thousand dollars and I would definitely plan ahead for that.”
The county hopes that by providing ready-made plans and clear guidelines, more residents will be encouraged to build affordable homes, thus easing the housing crunch and creating more opportunities for homeownership.
For additional information, on Ready, Set, Orange, click here.
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