Governor Ron DeSantis signed CS/CS/HB 1389 into law on June 26, 2026. The bill, known as “Live Local 4.0,” is the fourth major revision to Florida’s Live Local Act since it was first enacted in 2023. It passed the House 98–4 and the Senate 35–0 on March 12–13, 2026, was presented to the Governor June 15, and becomes Chapter 2026-179, Laws of Florida, effective July 1, 2026.
If that bill number looks familiar, it’s because HB 1389 is the same vehicle that briefly carried SB 48’s statewide ADU preemption language earlier in the 2026 session — until the House Commerce Committee stripped it out on February 24, 2026. That removal held. The version of HB 1389 signed into law contains no accessory dwelling unit provisions. Full account of how that language came out: SB 48 post-mortem.
What HB 1389 actually changes
None of it is ADU-specific, but Central Florida homeowners will hear “Live Local” in the news and reasonably wonder if it touches their project. It doesn’t. What it does change, for multifamily and mixed-use affordable/workforce housing development:
- Religious-property development becomes mandatory, not optional. The “Yes In God’s Backyard” (YIGBY) pathway — qualifying affordable housing on land owned by a house of worship larger than 3 acres and in religious use for at least 10 years — is no longer something a local government can decline to allow.
- Public land eligibility. Land owned by a county, municipality, or school district now qualifies for Live Local development regardless of the parcel’s underlying zoning, provided the public owner co-applies with the private developer.
- Height can’t be squeezed through the back door. Local governments can no longer use setback or stepback requirements to functionally cap the height of a qualifying Live Local project.
- Adjacent-parcel combination. Commonly owned parcels separated by up to 15 feet can be combined into a single qualifying development site.
- Opt-outs get harder. A local government seeking to opt out of the mandatory 75% ad valorem tax exemption (for units restricted to 80–120% AMI) must now show three consecutive years of documented affordable-housing surplus, up from one year.
- Tax exemption vesting. For building permits issued on or after July 1, 2026, the “Middle Market” tax exemption vests for four years from permit issuance.
- Fair Housing Act exposure. Local governments’ sovereign immunity is waived for Fair Housing Act claims tied to Live Local projects.
- Carve-outs. State areas of critical concern and properties under a conservation easement are excluded from the mandate.
- Military family housing. New density bonus incentives apply to landowners who donate property for military-family affordable housing.
- A study, not a rule change. The bill directs the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability (OPPAGA) to evaluate mezzanine financing and tiny homes as affordable-housing tools — a report, not a new right to build either one.
Why this doesn’t change your ADU project
State ADU law is unchanged. Florida’s only statewide ADU framework remains the optional “affordable ADU” pathway at Fla. Stat. § 163.31771, which a county or city may adopt but isn’t required to. Everything else — minimum lot size, size caps, setbacks, owner-occupancy rules — is still set county-by-county and city-by-city under each jurisdiction’s own land development code. Check your county page for the rule that applies to your parcel.
The one thing worth watching
The OPPAGA directive on tiny homes is not an ADU rule and creates no new permitting right. But it’s the first statewide legislative language in 2026 that engages with small-footprint housing at all, after the ADU preemption itself died. If that study feeds a refiled ADU bill in the 2027 session, it will show up first on the SB 48 post-mortem page. We’ll log it here if OPPAGA publishes findings before then.
Sources
- House Bill 1389 (2026), bill history — The Florida Senate
- CS/CS/HB 1389 bill summary — The Florida Senate
- Enrolled CS/CS/HB 1389 bill text — The Florida Senate
- Current Florida ADU law: Fla. Stat. § 163.31771