ORLANDO, Fla. – Orange County’s initiative to streamline the construction of affordable housing is taking shape.

Last summer, the county announced “Ready Set Orange,” a program created to increase the inventory of affordable and attainable housing.

The program aims to reduce barriers to homeownership by simplifying the permitting process, ultimately cutting down on costs and time.

“The program was really kind of an evolution of what’s called the ‘Housing for All’ initiative, the Mayor (Jerry) Demings initiative,” explained Carter Gresham, chief planner for Orange County.

“What we’ve tried to do is look at townhomes, look at accessory dwelling units, look at duplexes and triplexes to make sure that the housing options and the housing diversity that we have in Orange County is suited to every single person coming to Orange County or living in Orange County for a long period of time,” Gresham said.

Gresham said residents expressed interest in accessory dwelling units (ADUs) but were unsure how to start. To address the issue, the county created pre-designed floor plans.

“We hired architects. We worked through floor plans. We went through numerous rounds of reviews and permitting to essentially try to speed up and make that process a lot more streamlined,” he said.

Since announcing the program, over 350 applications have been submitted. Of those, Gresham said about 160 are either in the permitting process or soon will be.

Camilo Betancur is one of the hundreds who applied and the first to begin constructing an ADU in his backyard. The small independent living space is intended for his parents, who will soon retire.

“I saw the program on the news, and that was something I was looking for, for many years,” he said.

“They’ve always lived here in Orlando, but they are paying mortgage, and they are about to retire. It’ll be hard for them if they retire to keep paying the mortgage and all that, so that’s why we plan for them to live here,” Betancur said.

While residents cover the construction costs, building an ADU can still be a more affordable way to keep family close.

“We started the process probably in November. They take four months to get everything approved from the county. We started making some modifications in the original plans. That’s why it will probably take a little bit longer, but that process was easy, and we started building in mid-March,” Betancur said.

“If [people] have the opportunity to build this in their backyard, it probably is more affordable than paying rent,” he added.

For more information about the program, which also offers small single-family home floor plans, click here .