Tandem Housing: Good Or Bad?

"After more than a year of wrangling, the Orlando City Council on Monday tightened the rules for folks who want to build a second home in their back yards. Tandem housing -- the practice of constructing two houses on a single lot -- is still allowed on property with streets on at least two sides, as long as the second house isn't too big. But the council took away the right to build a second house on lots that face only one street -- and that includes the vast majority of lots in Orlando. The issue was a tough one for city planners." Opponents of the measure argue that the practive allows quality redevelopment to occur in the city's older neighborhoods.