Florida’s affordable housing crisis is not new, but the state’s legislative response is becoming increasingly sophisticated. With Florida adding nearly 470,000 new residents in 2024 alone, the largest numeric gain of any state in the country, and housing supply consistently failing to keep pace and housing supply failing to keep pace, the Florida Legislature has deployed two strategically aligned frameworks: the Florida Live Local Act, first enacted as Senate Bill 102 in 2023 and substantially amended in 2025, and Florida’s “Yes in God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) law, enacted as part of Senate Bill 1730 in 2025. These frameworks are not competing models. The Live Local Act and YIGBY occupy complementary positions, one targeting commercially and industrially zoned parcels through mandatory state preemption, the other unlocking faith-owned land that no prior framework could reach. Developers and municipalities that treat these tools as interchangeable do so at their strategic peril.
The Live Local Act: Mandate, Mechanics, and Scale
The Live Local Act, codified through SB 102 and expanded by the 2025 amendments in SB 1730, represents the most sweeping statewide land use reform in Florida’s recent legislative history. The Act requires local governments to authorize multifamily and mixed-use residential developments on commercially, industrially, or mixed-use zoned parcels, provided that at least 40% of residential units are affordable for households earning up to 120% of the area median income (AMI) for a minimum of 30 years. The state’s preemption of local zoning authority is robust: municipalities may not require rezonings, conditional use approvals, variances, or comprehensive plan amendments as conditions of approval.
The 2025 amendments meaningfully expanded the Act’s reach. New definitions clarify that parcels zoned for wholesale sales, equipment rentals, or other commercial activities qualify regardless of the local code’s official category. Planned unit developments with commercial, industrial, or mixed-use components are now expressly included. The amendments prohibit local governments from requiring more than 10% of a mixed-use project’s total square footage to be non-residential, and they lock in density, height, and floor area ratio allowances at the highest entitlements permitted as of July 1, 2023, preventing municipalities from depressing baselines to frustrate future development.
On regulatory mechanics, height cannot be restricted below the tallest commercial or residential development within one mile of the proposed site, or three stories, whichever is higher. Density cannot fall below the highest density permitted anywhere in the jurisdiction. Parking requirements must be reduced by at least 15% for developments within a quarter mile of a transit stop. The mandate expires October 1, 2033, and qualifying developments must execute a Land Use Restriction Agreement ensuring affordability commitments over the required term.
YIGBY: Faith, Land, and Local Flexibility
Florida’s YIGBY provision, embedded in SB 1730 alongside the 2025 Live Local Act amendments, takes a fundamentally different approach. Rather than commandeering commercially zoned parcels through state preemption, YIGBY grants local governments a discretionary tool to approve affordable housing on land owned by religious institutions, regardless of the underlying zoning. No rezoning, comprehensive plan amendment, or variance is required. If the property is owned by a religious institution, defined to include any church, synagogue, mosque, or established physical place for nonprofit religious services, and contains or is contiguous to a house of public worship, local governments may approve affordable housing there, provided that at least 10% of the homes are affordable as defined by statute.
Critically, YIGBY does not preempt local authority, it extends it. Cities and counties must opt in, either through individual project approvals or by adopting a local ordinance with a defined review process. St. Petersburg became the first municipality to formally adopt such an ordinance in December 2025. According to the Florida Housing Coalition, YIGBY has the potential to unlock over 30,000 parcels statewide, parcels that, because of their institutional or residential zoning, would never qualify under the Live Local Act.
The Tools Are Different, and That Is Precisely the Point
The Live Local Act is a developer-facing mandate targeting commercially and industrially zoned land, underutilized parking lots, obsolete retail corridors, and vacant industrial sites. It is mandatory, preempts local discretion, and is designed for high-density, large-scale output. YIGBY, by contrast, unlocks institutionally zoned land that the Live Local Act cannot reach. It is discretionary, preserves local control, and is best suited for community-anchored, mission-driven development.
The distinction is concrete: the Live Local Act requires commercial, industrial, or mixed-use zoning as a threshold condition, YIGBY explicitly overrides the underlying zoning. A church parking lot in a residentially zoned neighborhood is permanently ineligible under the Live Local Act but precisely the target under YIGBY. Affordability thresholds differ as well: 40% of units at 120% AMI for 30 years under the Live Local Act versus a 10% affordability floor under YIGBY with duration determined locally. These reflect distinct policy objectives serving distinct land types.
Florida in Action: Projects Taking Shape
Palm Lake Urban Sanctuary, under construction in St. Petersburg at 5401 22nd Avenue North, is emblematic of the YIGBY model. Developed through a partnership among Palm Lake Christian Church, Newstar Development, and the Pinellas County Housing Authority, the 86-unit project will deliver apartments for households earning between 30% and 80% of AMI, with affordability restrictions running at least 50 years. The church retained title to the land and entered a long-term operating partnership, demonstrating how faith institutions can become durable housing partners without ceding ownership.
Zion Village in Riverview is a $33.5 million, 75-unit senior housing complex built on two acres of church-owned land through a partnership among the Tampa Housing Authority, Smith & Henzy Affordable Group, Mt. Zion AME Church, and Adonai’s Second Chances, Inc. Units are reserved for seniors earning between 30% and 70% AMI. The ribbon was cut in February 2026, and the complex reached capacity by mid-March.
Key Takeaways for Developers and Municipalities
Several principles emerge from a comparative analysis of these two frameworks.
Site selection is the threshold question. The determinative question is whether the site qualifies under the Live Local Act (commercial, industrial, or mixed-use zoning), YIGBY (faith-owned with a house of worship on-site or contiguous), or both. Conflating the two frameworks leads to missteps in regulatory engagement and project structure.
YIGBY requires affirmative local action. Unlike the Live Local Act, which operates as a state-level preemption, YIGBY depends on municipal buy-in. Developers and faith communities should engage local planning staff early to determine whether an ordinance is in place and what development standards will govern.
Affordability thresholds and durations differ. The Live Local Act mandates 40% of units at 120% AMI for 30 years; YIGBY requires only 10% affordability with duration set locally.
Above all, practitioners should resist treating these frameworks as substitutes. The Live Local Act and YIGBY are sequenced tools in a coherent statewide strategy, one a mandatory preemption over commercially zoned land, the other a discretionary, faith-based pathway for institutionally zoned parcels. The question is not which tool to choose but which parcels each tool can reach, and how to deploy them in combination.
- U.S. Census Bureau, Population and Housing Unit Estimates (Dec. 2024). According to the Bureau’s most recent annual estimates, Florida added approximately 263,000 new residents between July 2023 and July 2024 the second-highest numeric gain of any state equating to an average of over 700 new residents per day. Florida’s 35-year average daily population growth from domestic migration alone is approximately 777 persons per day. See International Sales Group, Miami Report (Summer 2020), citing U.S. Census data; U.S. Census Bureau, “U.S. Population Trends Return to Pre-Pandemic Norms as More States Gain Population” (Dec. 2023).
- Kody Glazer, Florida Housing Coalition, “Senate Bill 1730 Signed Into Law,” Housing Action Lab (June 23, 2025), available at flhousingactionlab.substack.com. The Florida Housing Coalition’s parcel estimate is derived from GIS mapping of religious institution-owned property across all 67 Florida counties. The estimate assumes full local government participation an outcome that, as noted in the text, requires affirmative municipal action. See also Enterprise Community Partners, “Faith Communities Can Help Solve Florida’s Housing Crisis If We Let Them” (Feb. 24, 2026); Rep. Welch, floor statement, Fla. H.R. (Apr. 2025), as reported in Miami Times (May 7, 2025).
