Several key bills were passed during Florida's 2025 legislative session that pertain to the real estate, industry including those that focus on housing affordability and development regulation. Notable legislation from this session includes updates to the Live Local Act, amendments involving local government land development regulation, changes to the availability of wetlands mitigation, and streamlining of the platting process. Below is a high-level overview of some of the real estate related highlights from the 2025 State of Florida legislative session.
Live Local Act Amendments (SB 1730):
This new law provides the ability to streamline the approval processes and accelerate the development of affordable housing:
- Expanded Land Use Mandate: The Live Local Act, originally focused on incentivizing workforce housing, was expanded to include sites owned by religious institutions and those located in areas of mixed-use zoning, such as planned unit developments, allowing for more affordable housing options.
- Reduced Parking Requirements: The law now allows for a 15% reduction in parking requirements for Live Local projects, potentially making development more feasible.
- Streamlined Approvals: The 2025 amendments preempt specific aspects of local zoning and approvals, including administrative approval for demolitions and new construction in historic districts, and the ability to build to the height of nearby tall buildings.
- Priority Lawsuits: Lawsuits related to Live Local projects are now prioritized, and legal fees are capped at $250,000.
- Annual Reporting: Local governments are now required to provide annual reports on approved Live Local projects, including details on workforce housing and related litigation.
Wetlands Mitigation (SB 492):
This new law provides more predictability in credit availability, including the potential for out-of-service area utilization.
- Out of Service Area Mitigation Permitted in Certain Circumstances: The new law provides that permit applicants are entitled to a one-time use of credits from a mitigation bank outside the mitigation bank service area when an insufficient number or type of credits are available within the impacted area. The DEP or a water management district must have determined that the mitigation service area lacked the appropriate credit type, and the implementation of permittee-responsible mitigation was not sufficient to offset impacts before approving credits outside the service area.
- Cost Multipliers Applied: The bill provides that the listed multipliers would apply to credits outside the service area. The bill provides that the use of these multipliers meets the requirements for addressing cumulative impacts.
Brownfields (CS/ HB 733, enacted as Chapter No. 2025-116, Laws of Florida)
- Florida's Brownfield Redevelopment Act creates various financial and regulatory incentives to encourage voluntary cleanup of contaminated properties, including voluntary cleanup tax credits and environmental liability protection.
- Effective July 1, 2025, the new legislation expands and clarifies the criteria for eligibility and participation of persons and sites in Florida's Brownfield Program. For instance, local governments and their business partners are eligible to participate in the Brownfield Program if they have not caused or contributed to the contamination of the brownfield site after July 1, 2025.
- Most notably, Chapter No. 2025-116 clarifies the pathway and removes the previously existing barrier to No Further Action status when a proposed brownfield site is a portion of a larger contaminated site, provided that contamination emanating from the brownfield site is satisfactorily addressed. This new provision applies to all brownfield sites.
- In furtherance of other policy objectives, the new statute reduces the job creation requirement for brownfield sites that will provide affordable housing, recreational areas, conservation areas or parks, or be maintained for cultural or historical purposes.
- Chapter No. 2025-116 also provides procedural relief – namely, extending FDEP's deadline for issuing a tax credit determination a month, until June 1st; allowing tax credit applicants an additional 30 days to respond to a notice of deficiency in its application materials; and establishing a two-year window in which to apply for a tax credit bonus based upon receipt of a Site Rehabilitation Cleanup Order.
Explore more insights from Julie Kendig-Schrader, Kerri L. Barsh and the Greenberg Traurig team on global environmental and energy issues at Greenberg Traurig's E2 Law Blog.
Emergencies/Hurricane Recovery/Land Use Regulations (SB 180)
This new law provides more guidelines on permitting, fees and flood compliance after an emergency:
- Restrictions on County or Municipal Regulations After a Hurricane (Section 18 of the Bill): For one year after a hurricane, except for specific enumerated exceptions, an impacted local government may not propose or adopt:
- (a) A moratorium on construction, reconstruction, or redevelopment of any property.
- (b) A more restrictive or burdensome amendment to its comprehensive plan or land development regulations.
- (c) A more restrictive or burdensome procedure concerning review, approval, or issuance of a site plan, development permit, or development order, to the extent that those terms are defined in s. 163.3164.
- Hurricane Helene, Debby and Milton Provisions (Section 28 of the Bill): Similar provisions to Section 18 of the Bill. These provisions apply retroactively to August 1, 2024, and run through October 1, 2027.
- Legal Process and Attorney's Fees: Both Section 18 and Section 28 of the Bill contain procedural requirements and requirements for the award of attorney's fees.
- Impact Fees: No new or extra impact fee can be levied on replacement structures unless the replacement structure increases demand on public facilities. As a result, the impact fee shall be an amount proportional to the difference in the demand between the existing replacement structure and the original structure.
- Orange County Impacts: On July 15, 2025, the Orange County Commission held a hearing to discuss the impacts of SB 180 on the newly adopted Vision 2050 Comprehensive Plan and Orange Code. The consensus of the Commission was to wait until a notice was filed under SB 180, deny any such request and proceed to Court to resolve the issues. On July 28, 2025, the State of Florida Department of Commerce wrote to Orange County stating that the proposed and adopted comprehensive plan amendment is null and void ab initio based upon this new law.
Platting (SB 784):
This new law is intended to enhance the efficiency and predictability of the platting process in order to facilitate timely development and alleviate pressures on housing demands across the State:
- Administrative Approvals: Plats that meet the statutory requirements must be approved through an administrative process. Within seven days of receipt of an applicant's plat or replat submittal, the administrative authority must provide a written notice acknowledging receipt of said plat or replat and provide the approval process and timeframes for review and approval.
- Preemption: If a charter county's established procedure provides for platting regulations that are inconsistent with SB 748, then the charter county's provisions will control the platting or replating approval process.
Flood Disclosures (SB 948):
This bill, with an effective date of October 1, 2025, requires landlords of certain residential real property and mobile home lots to provide flood disclosure statements, thereby providing tenants with greater protections:
- Flood disclosure: A landlord is required to provide to a renter of real property for a term of one (1) year or longer, a flood disclosure statement, at or prior to the execution of a rental agreement. The statement must provide knowledge or lack thereof as to any flooding that damaged the dwelling unit during the landlord's ownership, any claims filed, and any assistance received in relation to flooding, among other disclosure statements.
- Flood disclosure by Landlord of Mobile Home Lot: A landlord of a mobile home lot is also required to deliver, prior to the execution of a lot rental agreement or at the time of occupancy, whichever comes first, a flood disclosure statement.
In both cases, the flood disclosure must be a separate statement provided to a prospective tenant and should track the statutory language provided.
Elimination of Sales Tax on Commercial Real Property Leases (HB 7031):
Starting October 1, 2025, sales taxes on commercial rentals are eliminated, but sales tax will be payable for rental periods prior to October 1, 2025. In a commercial real property transaction, it would be prudent for purchasers to request sellers of commercial real property to obtain a Certificate of Compliance from the Department of Revenue as part of due diligence to ensure that successor liability as to sales tax is mitigated. Gain further insights from Marvin A. Kirsner on the sales tax repeal for commercial leases in this GT Alert.
Expedited Removal of Commercial Squatters (SB 322):
Commercial property owners who meet certain conditions are able to request the sheriff of the county in which the owner's commercial property is located to expeditiously remove any squatter by filing a sworn complaint. The anti-squatter provision provides an owner of commercial property a greater ability to regain control of their property in a speedy manner without having to deal with the lengthy judicial processes.
Impact of The 2025 Florida Legislation:
The 2025 Florida legislative changes are expected to stimulate the creation of more affordable housing units across Florida and potentially streamline the development process. With respect to SB 492, the ability to obtain wetland mitigation credits in an out of the service area under certain circumstances may lead to preservation of greater areas of Florida and stimulate developments in areas where mitigation is not available. Finally, SB 322 provides an additional layer of protection for commercial property owners from illegal occupation and damages by permitting law enforcement to remove squatters without a lengthy judicial process. The 2025 Florida legislative changes offer the potential for clarification of existing laws and correction of practical issues that exist in the real estate industry.
Originally published by Orlando Business Journal.
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