TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill revising 2023’s Live Local Act, providing an additional $100 million to the Hometown Heroes Housing Program (HHHP) for zero-interest downpayment and closing cost assistance home loans to fulltime employed Floridians who meet income requirements.

The HHHP financial boost injects new funding into a program that was so successful when it launched that funding was depleted in under two months. The new HHHP funding will be available after July 1.

The modifications in the bill to last year’s Live Local Act also continue to provide flexibility for local governments to incentivize and expedite affordable housing developments. In general, the new law:

• Modifies the parking reduction requirements for qualifying developments by requiring local governments to reduce parking requirements by 20% under certain circumstances.
• Modifies certain provisions pertaining to the zoning and land use preemption for approving affordable multifamily rental developments.
• Provides that nothing in the act precludes a local government from granting a bonus, variance, conditional use or other special exception for height, density or floor area ratio in addition to the required entitlements.
• Appropriates $100 million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund to the Florida Housing Finance Corporation to implement the Florida Hometown Heroes Program.

© 2024 Reprinted with permission Florida Realtors®