JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Governor Ron DeSantis on Wednesday signed into law a bill meant to address the state’s ongoing affordable housing crisis.
The “Live Local Act” will provide incentives for private investment in affordable housing and encourage mixed-use development in struggling commercial areas, while barring local rent controls and pre-empting local government rules on zoning, density and building heights in certain circumstances.
Among other things, the bill would create tax exemptions for developments that set aside at least 70 units for affordable housing and would speed permits and development orders for affordable-housing projects.
The bill would provide money for a series of programs, including $252 million for the longstanding State Housing Initiatives Partnership, or SHIP, program, $150 million a year to the State Apartment Incentive Loan, or SAIL, program, and an additional $100 million for the Hometown Heroes program, which is designed to help teachers, health-care workers and police officers buy homes.
The state budget for the current year includes $362.7 million for affordable housing.
Some Democrats expressed concerns about parts of the bill that would prohibit rent controls and impose certain local government pre-emptions.
