One of the nation’s most aggressive housing policy reform agendas of the post-pandemic era greets Florida lawmakers as they enter their 2026 legislative session bent on improving housing affordability.
With a coordinated set of “fix” bills, Sunshine State lawmakers want to add more muscle to the state’s workforce housing program. Proposed legislation would legalize more housing types, strengthen the fledgling Live Local Act for a fourth iteration, and recalibrate a series of funding and tax tools to speed development of affordable housing and attainable homeownership.
Florida’s strategy places the state alongside a small group of states taking holistic, multi-pronged steps to bend long‑term housing supply and costs, rather than pursuing reforms that address pieces of the crisis in isolation.
The state’s housing market has transitioned from pandemic‑era residential bidding wars to a slower, more balanced but still inflated price environment overall. Apartment rents have declined modestly from recent peaks, while home prices have plateaued or decreased slightly in many regions.
Easing mortgage rates and gradual gains in housing inventory have helped to stabilize prices across most of the state’s residential markets. Despite better equilibrium on a statewide level, Southeast Florida remains a persistent outlier, where strong population growth continues to fuel intense housing demand.
In this mixed environment, state lawmakers are pursuing structural reforms to create a more stable and affordable housing system. They believe coordinated changes to zoning rules, public funding, and tax policy can sustain progress and buffer against future price spikes.
The underlying goal is to lock in house price stability and forestall another post‑crisis housing boom that worsens affordability for working residents. Policymakers view this moment as a chance to concretize past gains before another economic upswing reignites competition and speculative pricing.
Live Local 3.0 made strides
Florida passed the first version of the Live Local Act in 2023 and has tightened it each succeeding session, closing loopholes that cities and counties exploited to deny projects. The law also expanded tax exemptions, particularly those on missing‑middle housing. Last year’s update added a provision allowing winners in lawsuits to recover up to $ 250,000 in attorney’s fees.
Live Local presents challenges beyond the “not in my backyard” mentality.
Juan Mullerat, principal of South Florida architecture firm Plusurbia, spoke with The Builder’s Daily about his view that Live Local disregards the context that urban planners care about. He mentioned examples of that disregard in areas such as proximity to schools and parks, accessibility to medical facilities, and resiliency measures.
“Whatever we plan and build is about people, and people have been removed from the equation,” Mullerat said. “There’s no public outreach, vetting or local input.” And that, he added, is the risk Live Local brings to communities.
Live Local 4.0 pushes aggressive housing agenda
Keith Poliakoff, an attorney with Fort Lauderdale firm Government Law Group, predicted last year that Live Local 3.0 would not be the measure’s final version, saying cities would keep testing its limits.
At the center of this year’s Live Local 4.0 push is a package of bills that aims to refine Florida’s flagship workforce‑housing law further. One major bill, Senate Bill 1548, would extend Live Local’s land‑use mandate to properties owned by local governments and school districts. The bill would also block cities from using setbacks to undermine state‑guaranteed height limits.
The bill clarifies that farms and on‑site agricultural operations do not count as eligible commercial or mixed‑use sites. Additionally, it would amend the Florida Fair Housing Act to waive sovereign immunity when governments violate it.
House Bill 1389 would broaden Live Local‑style entitlements to all future land‑use designations that allow commercial, industrial, or mixed uses and to areas within a quarter mile of transit, creating a new path for projects that reserve 20% of units at 80% of area median income.
A related bill, Senate Bill 1520, would narrow when taxing authorities can opt out of the Multifamily Middle Market property‑tax exemption and protect projects that already secured approvals.
Together, the changes aim to make Live Local more predictable for developers while limiting local governments’ ability to erode its benefits, reflecting a view in the state capitol, Tallahassee, that Florida cannot rely on local zoning alone to deliver enough workforce housing.
Preempting single‑family and transit‑area zoning
Surrounding Live Local 4.0 is a set of bills that would extend the same “by‑right, state‑set rules” logic into single‑family neighborhoods, small infill lots, and transit corridors.
- An accessory dwelling unit mandate (SB 48/HB 313) would require all local governments to allow ADUs in every single‑family zone by December 1. The House version would require administrative approvals.
- The Florida Starter Homes Act (SB 948/HB 1143) would create statewide standards for smaller homes on smaller lots and allow up to four units per eligible lot. That change would open the door to missing‑middle housing types in single-family areas.
- A Transit‑Oriented Development Act (HB 1183/SB 1342) would layer new entitlements near permanent transit stops, establishing three TOD tiers near transit and barring local rules that sharply cut allowable heights, floor‑area ratios, or add extra parking and open‑space mandates in the most intense zones.
In a cooling but pricey market, state officials aim to spur housing production where demand remains strongest. Vacancies and slower rent growth create space for new supply to enter without immediately reigniting price pressures.
Miami has already moved in this direction with zoning reforms. A 2025 ordinance established Transit Station Neighborhood Districts to encourage dense, mixed‑use projects near major rail transit hubs. Developers can build taller buildings with less parking if they fund mobility upgrades and include affordable and workforce housing onsite. The city layers its own transit bonuses on top of county and state programs to boost housing near stations. Developers can often stack those incentives if they also include income‑restricted units.
Trust funds, rural counties, and vulnerable residents
Lawmakers want to keep Florida’s core housing finance system intact while steering more money to rural and lower‑income communities.
The Florida Housing Coalition has urged lawmakers to follow the governor’s 2026‑2027 budget plan and fully fund key housing programs. The State Housing Initiatives Partnership provides local governments with housing assistance. The State Apartment Incentive Loan program offers low‑cost financing to build or preserve rental housing.
The governor’s budget includes $170.8 million for SHIP and $72.9 million for SAIL. It also provides $50 million for the Hometown Heroes Housing Program, which helps teachers, nurses, and other workers buy homes. Another $150 million from general revenue would support the Live Local SAIL Program.
For rural counties, SB 250 would raise the minimum SHIP award from $350,000 to $1 million annually. The bill also directs $30 million from general revenue to preserve rural rental properties with U.S. Department of Agriculture loans. That shift would increase funding for 33 rural counties but could reduce allocations for large urban counties. Lawmakers may need to add more overall funding to make it all work.
Other proposals target residents hit hardest when costs spiked from 2021 through 2023.
One measure, SB 752, would exempt first‑time buyers whose household income falls below 120% of the area median income from state documentary stamp taxes on some home purchases, slightly lowering costs but also cutting the main revenue source for SHIP and SAIL.
A cooling market, a high‑stakes test
Florida’s shift from bidding wars to a calmer, elevated-price market gives lawmakers a rare, navigable opening for policy reform. Housing cost pressure remains, but it is no longer boiling over. Prices and rents have stopped spiraling, yet they remain out of reach for many working households. Modest tweaks will not, by themselves, restore affordability.
In that context, the fix bills are less about addressing the pandemic boom or other past challenges. Rather, they aim to codify into law the development of more supply, more by‑right approvals, and more statewide standards before the next upswing.
This session will test whether Florida can lock in a more production‑driven housing system. Or it may cement a new era of state–local conflict in a market that remains unaffordable for many residents.