DeSantis signs affordable housing bill

Ernie Sampera and Amber Jo Cooper contributed to this report.

NAPLES, Fla. (FLV) – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an affordable housing bill aimed at incentivizing companies to build more workforce housing units.

DeSantis said the “Live Local Act” is the “largest ever support for housing in state history.”

“In fact, this doubles what the legislature did last year, which was already at a 15-year high,” DeSantis said.

The bill was approved by the Florida House in a 103-6 vote and voted on unanimously in the Senate. 

Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, R-Naples, championed the bill with Sen. Alexis Calatayud, R-Miami.

Passidomo said they want residents to be able to live close to where they work.

“We believe that from day one [of this law], there will be a big impact on the lack of housing for our citizens,” Passidomo said.

The proposed legislation seeks to incentivize the construction of new projects in close proximity to existing affordable housing units with the goal of providing residents of older units a new home while at the same time rebuilding and updating older buildings.

The bill allocates $259 million for the State Apartment Incentive Loan program, also known as SAIL, including $150 million in new and recurring funds.

The legislation prohibits government-imposed rent controls while maintaining funding for workforce housing and offering incentives for remodeling older homes.

The bill would increase funding for Florida’s Hometown Heroes Program by $100 million and broaden the program’s eligibility to include the entire state’s local workforce.

DeSantis said this is for hometown heroes wanting to purchase their first home, and the program is popular with military veterans and police officers.

A major component of this bill would eliminate local government’s ability to impose rent control under all circumstances, including ballot measures such as in Orange County.

Another provision allows businesses to contribute up to $100 million annually towards the Florida Housing Finance Corporation instead of paying parts of their corporate and insurance taxes.

Under the proposed legislation, the sales tax paid on materials used to create affordable housing units would be refunded up to $5,000 per unit.

“These will be things that people can use right now, which is really really good,” DeSantis said.

The legislation also appropriates $100 million in additional gap financing for projects struggling with unexpectedly high construction costs in order to combat inflation and material price hikes.

Additionally, the bill creates a new “Missing Middle” tax exemption for developments that set aside a minimum of 70 housing units and are at least 10% below market rate.

“This legislature, this governor, we’re about solving real problems,” House Speaker Paul Renner, R-Palm Coast, said.