On the Florida Roundup, a podcast show hosted by Tom Hudson for WLRN, Sam Staley, director of the DeVoe Moore Center for the College of Social Sciences and Public Policy at FSU (Florida State University), discusses what Florida could do to address the issue of high housing prices.
The Sunshine State has gone from an affordable real estate market to a very expensive one since the early 2000s, and especially since the 2020 pandemic. The reasons are simple: demand has exploded with the influx of newcomers and strong intra-state migration, and the state cannot legally limit this internal migration.
Furthermore, Florida is not building enough housing for middle-income households (known as “workforce housing”), which have annual incomes between $60,000 and $80,000. According to Staley: “It’s not just about adding the number of units, although I think that definitely helps, but we also have to be thinking about making sure that we are accommodating the different kinds of housing for the different segments.”
According to the AEI Housing Center for NPR, Florida has a shortage of 486,000 homes, or 4.7% of its total housing stock.
Obstacles
Local residents often oppose new projects in their communities. They believe that these projects will impact the appearance and lifestyle of their neighborhoods, and ultimately reject them. For Staley, this is the “Not in my backyard” phenomenon.
In addition, municipal and county approval processes are lengthy and conservative. Local commissions favor the status quo and delay decisions, which are thus heavily influenced by the citizens of the municipality.
Finally, Staley highlights the lack of accountability of municipalities when they fail to meet their new housing construction targets: “They may talk about adding housing, but if they fall short of that, there are no consequences. They don’t lose elections. No one’s fired, no one’s held accountable for that.”
What are the solutions?
One avenue is the development of “granny flats,” apartments or small annexes that can accommodate one or two people, with their own entrance, kitchen, bedroom, and living space. Sometimes located above the garage, they can also be in the garden, attached to the main house, or in a converted basement. According to the AEI Housing Center, “Encouraging the construction of these additional units, as well as other types of housing such as duplexes, triplexes, and row houses, on existing lots could add up to 42,500 homes per year in Florida.”
Another avenue to explore is to take inspiration from the “Yes in God’s Backyard” movement in St. Petersburg, which allows vacant land owned by religious institutions to be used for affordable housing and helps municipal officials and religious leaders accelerate these initiatives.
Finally, government intervention seems necessary to resolve this crisis. To this end, the Live Local Act of 2023 reduces the power of municipalities over zoning to speed up construction. It remains to be seen whether the law will allow for the construction of more new units in the long term without negatively impacting the value of existing homes.
It is also unsure whether real estate developments would be detrimental or beneficial to local communities, given that they come with solvable problems such as rainwater runoff, traffic congestion, and public infrastructure development, but also potentially economic and employment benefits.
For Staley, “I think we need to focus on the impacts of the project [that can be solved], rather than compliance with rules, plans, or zoning codes.”
