Low Income Housing in Florida

Low Income Housing Information

Low income housing can be a godsend, but if you don't know how to apply, or who to get your information to, how can you ever expect to be approved?

Since laws and procedure vary from state to state, you'll need to learn a few specifics before applying. We can help!

How Can You Qualify for Low Income Housing in Florida

Florida offers very little direct assistance to low income residents; instead most of the direct aid is given to property owners and developers. The owners and developers are provided various incentives - cash, loans, loan guarantees, tax credits, and others - to develop and maintaining housing units specifically designed to accommodate low income people. The actual beneficiaries, the low income renters or homebuyers, have little input in the process and simply have to meet certain financial conditions in order to qualify to live in the properties specifically designed for low income residents. As a consequence, most low income housing is defined as such before it is even constructed, resulting in shoddy construction and undesirable locations.

The qualifying conditions to live in housing that was built with the assistance of various incentive programs differs depending on the program in question. In effect there are three different income level limits to qualify for low income housing in Florida. Some of these limits apply exclusively to subsidized rental properties while others are specifically for low income home buyers. Florida, has invested a lot more money into encouraging low income people to buy homes than rent, meaning that very low income people - those that can not qualify even for a subsidized mortgage - have fewer options available.

In order to move into housing that was financed in part through the Community Housing Workforce Innovation Pilot (CWHIP) or the Multifamily Rental programs, the low income person or family has to fall below income levels determined by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC) and adjusted annually. These limits also differ by location, using the federal government's metropolitan statistical area classifications as the defining areas. Further, the calculations also include detailed percentages for each available unit, making it very difficult for people to calculate if they qualify.

People seeking to move into homes where the developer received non-amortizing, low-interest rate loans through the HOME Investment Partnership program have different limits. As a federal program, these income limits are determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as opposed to state authorities in Florida. These limits are the same as HOME limits imposed nationally and can be found by visiting the HUD website www.hud.gov. The property owner will indicate if these limits apply.

The third program, the State Housing Initiatives Partnership Program (SHIP), does not pay money directly to the property developers, but instead pays money to local governments as an incentive for them to enter into partnerships with private developers in order to build low income housing. People wishing to move into housing that was created in part through the SHIP program are based on yet a third table of income limits. The basic limits are those that qualify people for federal Section 8 housing, but then these are adjusted by the Florida Housing Finance Corporation (FHFC).

In line with the conservative political philosophy that has dominated Florida for many years, virtually all government aid and subsidies go to wealthy property developers and land owners. Those who qualify for, and therefore actually need, subsidized housing have few options, receive no assistance, and have no real voice in any of the programs or how they work.