ADU Pass
Lafayette County
ADU Pass helps homeowners in Lafayette County, Florida navigate the permit paperwork for building an accessory dwelling unit. We cover 3 cities and 3 ZIP codes in this county.
Map
County ADU details
County ADU ordinance
Lafayette County is among Florida's smallest and most rural counties (population ~8,500, Mayo is the county seat). Non-charter commission government. Dairy farming, row crops, timber, and a small share of the Florida prison system (Mayo Correctional Institution) form the economic base. The Lafayette County Land Development Code (LDC), administered by the Planning & Zoning Department, governs unincorporated land use; the county's single municipality is Mayo (population ~1,200). The LDC does NOT contain a standalone ADU ordinance; accessory dwellings appear through A-1 Agricultural second-dwelling provisions and R-1 residential guest-house allowances. No pending ADU rulemaking as of 2026-04-20.
County permitting (unincorporated parcels)
Essentially all of Lafayette County's ~543 sq mi area is unincorporated. ADU-adjacent construction is permitted by the Lafayette County Building Department at the county courthouse in Mayo. Uses Florida Building Code as adopted. Paper/email intake; no ePermits portal. Very small department; expect 3-5 week permit turnaround.
County assessor
Lafayette County property assessment is performed by the Lafayette County Property Appraiser, an elected constitutional officer based in Mayo. The appraiser maintains parcel records for all ~6,500 parcels. Standard Florida rules apply. Dairy, timber, and row-crop parcels dominate and are commonly ag-classified under F.S. 193.461. Residential values are among Florida's lowest.
Assessment policy: Standard Florida new-construction assessment; subsequent caps. Dairy-farm housing / farmworker housing carve-out under F.S. 193.461 is the most consequential ADU-related rule here.
County overlays (3)
Lafayette County overlays: (1) Suwannee River FEMA SFHAs along western and southern boundary; (2) SRWMD spring-protection overlays (Mill Creek Spring, Troy Spring nearby in Suwannee County, upstream influences); (3) karst / Floridan Aquifer outcrop terrain with sinkholes and caves (Suwannee River Wilderness Trail); (4) Florida Building Code 120-130 mph non-HVHZ design-wind-speed (interior north Florida, low wind zone).
Known county issues (4)
- policy-review — Unlike most FL counties researched in this batch, Lafayette County is below the 10,000-population threshold for the pending 2026 ADU-ordinance mandate and would NOT be required to adopt an explicit ADU ordinance even if the bill passes in current form.
- other — Lafayette is a leading FL dairy-production county. Dairy-worker housing on bona fide dairy operations may qualify as ancillary ag under F.S. 193.461 — ag-rate assessment rather than full-just-value residential.
- staffing-shortage — Lafayette County Building Department is among the smallest in Florida. Paper/email intake; expect responsive but limited-bandwidth service.
- other — Floridan Aquifer outcrop and associated karst features (sinkholes, caves, springs) along the Suwannee River require enhanced geotechnical review on some parcels.
Florida state — ADU law and programs
State ADU law
Florida does NOT currently have a statewide ADU preemption law in effect. Florida Statutes § 163.31771 (enacted 2004, last amended 2020) is permissive — it authorizes local governments to adopt ADU ordinances but does not require them to. ADU rules are therefore set municipality-by-municipality: Miami-Dade, Orlando, St. Petersburg, Tampa, and a growing set of Florida cities have their own ordinances; many smaller counties and cities still prohibit or restrict ADUs by default. A preemption bill (SB 48 / HB 313) is pending in the 2026 legislative session and is likely to pass given that its 2025 predecessor cleared the Senate 37-0 and House 97-10 before dying on a procedural amendment dispute.
- Florida Statutes § 163.31771 — Accessory dwelling units — Permissive (not mandatory) statute. Defines an ADU as 'an ancillary or secondary living unit, that has a separate kitchen, bathroom, and sleeping area, existing either within the same structure, or on the same lot, as the primary dwelling unit.' Authorizes — but does not require — local governments to adopt ordinances allowing ADUs in single-family residential zones. Contains no size caps, no owner-occupancy rules, no HOA preemption. All substantive rulemaking is local.
State financing programs
Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) does not operate an ADU-specific state loan or grant program. FHFC's primary affordable-housing lever at the ADU tier is the State Housing Initiatives Partnership (SHIP), which distributes state documentary-stamp-tax revenue to all 67 counties and 52 entitlement cities for locally-administered housing programs — some of which may fund ADU construction at the local level (notably Orange County's Affordable ADU Loan Program, run through the Orange County Housing Finance Trust). FHFC's FL Assist down-payment programs and HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage conventional loans apply to ADU-eligible primary residences but do not single out ADUs. Proposed CS/SB 1440 would create a state property-tax exemption of up to 100% of assessed value for an ADU rented at affordable rates.
State housing programs
Florida does not currently operate a statewide pre-approved ADU plan catalog (unlike California or Washington). State-level ADU implementation is driven by (a) the permissive § 163.31771 which lets willing jurisdictions adopt ordinances, (b) SHIP pass-through funding to local ADU programs (Orange County's Affordable ADU Loan Program is the model), and (c) the affordable-housing property-tax exemption under the Live Local Act (SB 102 / SB 328). The Department of Economic Opportunity (DEO) — now reorganized as the Department of Commerce — provides technical assistance to local governments but no statewide ADU-specific mandate or program. Major counties (Miami-Dade, Orange, Pasco, Hillsborough, Pinellas, Broward) have published their own ADU ordinances and guidance documents.
Federal (United States) — ADU-relevant rules and programs
Federal ADU law
The United States has no federal statute that directly regulates accessory dwelling unit entitlement or design. Land-use authority over ADUs resides with states and local governments under the traditional police power. Federal engagement is limited to financing (Fannie/Freddie/FHA/VA/USDA), flood insurance (FEMA/NFIP), and discretionary housing programs (HUD), which are recorded in sibling sections of this file.
Federal financing programs
Federal housing-finance agencies and GSEs set nationwide underwriting rules that govern whether an ADU can be financed, appraised, and counted toward mortgage qualifying income. The relevant actors are Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA (HUD), VA, and USDA Rural Development.
Federal tax credits
There is no ADU-specific federal tax credit. ADUs may incidentally qualify for existing federal energy-efficiency and clean-energy tax credits when the ADU construction includes qualifying measures.
Federal housing programs
HUD administers several discretionary programs that can fund ADU-related activity at the grantee's election, but none is an ADU-specific program.