Orange County commissioners created a development and planning group that considered various ways of overcoming the current housing affordability crisis. Tiny homes with a floor area of 46 sq m and less were named among the possible solutions. These properties are inexpensive, costing from $10,000 to $40,000. Importantly, their maintenance is also cheap.
Meanwhile, two out of three single-family houses sold in Orange County last November cost over $300,000. Almost a 30% of them were worth $500,000 and more.
The Florida Building Code allows construction of such properties, while the state’s Building Division is currently considering the possibility of including them in rules and regulations, says Alyssa Henriquez, one of the county’s elected commissioners. Other ways of solving the problem include use of unclaimed properties owned by the county, foreclosures on delinquent mortgages, and tax incentives for non-profit organizations.
Nicole Wilson, elected from Horizon West and Winter Garden neighborhoods, believes these ideas are the key steps in fighting the housing crisis. The supply of available homes in the market needs to be increased one way or another to eliminate the root cause of the problem. Implementing some of these ideas will require regulatory changes and optimizing the process of issuing construction permits.
In 2022, the average rent in Orange County rose again by 6.2% compared to 2021, reaching $1,803 per month. Increasing the supply in the housing market will enable the county authorities to improve the tenants’ situation.