SB 948 Florida Senate · 2026 Regular Session

Local Government Land Development Regulations and Orders

Summary

Local Government Land Development Regulations and Orders; Requiring counties and municipalities, respectively, to follow certain application procedures for applications for certain development permits and development orders; creating the “Florida Starter Homes Act” for a specified purpose; prohibiting local governments from imposing regulations governing residential lots unless such regulations meet specified requirements; prohibiting local governments from imposing certain regulations if a residential lot is connected to a public water system and a sewerage system; requiring the permitting as of right of an off-site constructed residential dwelling in certain zoning districts, etc.

Issues: ✓ Housing

Bill status died 1 of 4 stages cleared

Introduction

Jan 2026

Committee Review

Floor Vote

Governor

Introduced Jan 13, 2026 Last action Mar 13, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

S 948 Filed → S 948 c1 · 6 edits

MODERATE

The bill was significantly expanded from a focused set of land development reforms into a comprehensive housing package. It now includes new sections on off-site manufactured homes, neighborhood improvement district powers, and retroactive application of rules, while tightening specific timelines for permit reviews and expanding the list of prohibited local regulations.

Scope change

The bill's scope expanded from primarily regulating local land development and starter homes to include off-site manufactured housing, expanded neighborhood improvement district authority, and retroactive enforcement provisions.

SCOPE

Added new sections requiring off-site constructed residential dwellings to be permitted as of right and prohibiting local governments from treating them differently than site-built homes.

Added new authority for neighborhood improvement district boards to plan, finance, or complete structural safety improvements with resident approval.

TIMELINE

Tightened permit review deadlines for residential lots, reducing the initial review window from 30 days to 10 business days and the completeness review from 7 business days to 5 business days.

REQUIREMENT

Expanded the list of prohibited local regulations to include those restricting lot splits on historic property and added new definitions for 'starter home' and 'off-site constructed residential dwelling'.

ENFORCEMENT

Added provisions for retroactive application of the new rules to existing regulations and clarified that voluntary HOA restrictions are exempt from the new prohibitions.

DEFINITION

Updated the definition of 'public transit stop' to include streetcars and fixed guideway systems, and clarified the definition of 'residential lot' to exclude areas of critical state concern.

Floor votes

How they voted

No floor votes recorded yet.

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Jan 29, 2026

Upper · Passed

Pending reference review under Rule 4.7(2) - (Committee Substitute)

upper

Jan 22, 2026

Upper · Passed

On Committee agenda-- Community Affairs, 01/27/26, 3:30 pm, 37 Senate Building

upper

Jan 13, 2026

Introduced

upper

Jan 5, 2026

Committee

Referred to Community Affairs; Judiciary; Rules

upper

1 primary · 4 co-sponsors