Florida’s $711M Affordable Housing Bill Becomes Law

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Florida’s $711M affordable housing bill becomes law
https://therealdeal.com/miami/2023/0...l-becomes-law/

DeSantis signed Senate Bill 102, known as the Live Local Act, on Wednesday, days after the legislation passed in the Florida House of Representatives. In addition to setting aside funds for affordable housing, the law will supersede local governments’ zoning, density and height requirements for affordable housing in areas zoned for commercial or mixed-use development. It also strips local municipalities’ ability to enact rent control, which was previously only possible during a housing emergency.

Local governments would be required to allow multifamily or mixed-use residential projects that set aside at least 40 percent of the residential component for affordable housing for a period of at least 30 years. For projects allocating at least 65 percent of the square footage to residential, a county would not be able to restrict the height of a proposed development below what’s currently allowed within one mile of the planned project.

https://www.connectcre.com/stories/d...kage-into-law/

$259 million to provide low interest loans to developers building workforce housing, with .$150 million of these funds recurring for certain specified uses.
$252 million to provide local governments with incentives to build partnerships with developers who are preserving available housing or producing more housing.
$100 million for the Florida Hometown Heroes Housing Program to provide down payment and closing cost assistance to first-time home buyers with a focus on law enforcement, first responders, teachers, active-duty military, and military veterans.
$100 million to implement a loan program to alleviate inflation-related cost increases for FHFC-approved housing projects

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/poli...rbq-story.html

Passidomo said the law “will make sure Floridians can live close to good jobs, schools, hospitals, and other critical centers of our communities that fit comfortably in their household budgets, no matter the stage of life or income.”
The bill passed the House 103-6 on Friday, having won unanimous approval in the Senate earlier in the month.
Cynthia Laurent, a housing justice campaigner with nonprofit Florida Rising, agreed the bill doesn’t meet the needs of service workers and other low-wage employees in the state.

“It leaves out a large swath of our population that keeps our economy going,” Laurent said.

**This law will bring changes especially to commercial and industrial zones, while also intending to transform vacant strip malls and commercial developments into housing.
However, this law will strip some rights away from local legislation, which will cause controversy.