A fresh state budget targets housing supply, assistance
A fresh state budget and two new Florida housing laws take effect July 1, advancing Florida Realtors legislative priorities tied to housing supply, affordability and local housing options. The changes inject new money into popular housing programs, make funds available for home hardening programs and update parts of the Live Local Act, among other things.
Florida’s new budget and two housing laws taking effect today keep affordable housing, storm protection and local housing tools in play for Realtors®, buyers, homeowners and communities across the state.
Florida's 2026-27 budget includes $50 million for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program. Florida’s popular first-time homebuyer program gives eligible first-responder and other essential workers access to zero interest loans to help with downpayment and closing cost assistance.
It also allocates $236.5 million to the State and Local Government Housing Trust Funds, including $165.7 million for the State Housing Initiatives Partnership program (SHIP) and $70.8 million for the State Apartment Incentive Loan program (SAIL). SHIP provides funding to help very low- to moderate-income families with affordable housing, such as down payments, closing costs, and emergency home repairs. SAIL provides low-interest, gap-financing loans to developers building or rehabilitating affordable rental apartments.
Unused funding from last year’s budget also carries forward for the My Safe Florida Home and My Safe Florida Condominium programs. That includes $378 million for My Safe Florida Home and $27 million for My Safe Florida Condominium. Both of these programs help Floridians protect their homes against storms and reduce their insurance premiums.
Additionally, the budget includes more than $1.7 billion for Everglades and water quality projects, including Everglades restoration, the Rural and Family Lands program, springs protection, beach and inlet management, water projects and the Statewide Flooding and Sea Level Rise Resilience Plan.
Two new Florida housing laws also take effect today (July 1). HB 1389 updates parts of the 2023 Live Local Act. Among its provisions, the law adds certain lands owned by school districts and religious institutions to Live Local Act land-use mandates. It also raises the threshold for local governments to opt out of the Missing Middle tax exemption and gives some property owners added protection if they already received a building permit for a Missing Middle development before a local government opts out.
A second new law, SB 594, focuses on local housing assistance plans under the SHIP program. The law requires a local government’s SHIP plan to include a strategy for providing program funds to mobile homeowners, including lot rental assistance.
It also specifies that lot rental assistance is considered a homeownership activity. Rehabilitation and emergency repairs for mobile homes are considered construction, rehabilitation or emergency repair of affordable, eligible housing for program fund use.
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