Legislative findings.

It is hereby found and declared as follows:

(1) The costs of developing, operating, and maintaining multifamily rental housing have increased substantially and have thereby contributed to the new construction of such units being less than that necessary for an adequate supply; the conversion of apartment units to condominiums has also contributed to this condition, and the availability of rental housing has become a significant problem in the state.

(2) There exist presently and periodically serious economic dislocations in the construction and building trade industry, resulting in substantial unemployment, business losses, and bankruptcies, a general deterioration of the economic well-being of Florida residents, and a need to assist and implement welfare-to-work transitioning initiatives to coordinate with state and federal policies.

(3) One major cause of these conditions has been periodic shortages of funds from private sources and failures due to disintermediation in the federal system of financial intermediaries, which shortages have contributed to reductions in construction of new residential housing and have made the sale and purchase of existing residential housing a virtual impossibility in certain parts of the state.

(4) There also exists a serious shortage of decent, safe, and sanitary housing in the state available to persons and families of low, moderate, and middle income, which impairs the economic value of larger areas, characterized by depreciated value, impaired investments, reduced capacity to pay taxes, and lack of new development to meet the needs of area residents, and which is a menace to the health, safety, morals, and welfare of the citizens of the state.

(5) It is necessary to create inducements and opportunities for private and public investment in such activities in this state with appropriate planning, land use, and construction policies necessary for the public welfare.

(6) A stable supply of adequate funds for housing financing is required to encourage the construction and reconstruction of new and rehabilitated housing in an orderly and sustained manner and, thereby, to meet the shortage and reduce the results thereof.

(7) It is necessary to create a state housing finance corporation to encourage the investment of private capital in residential housing through the use of public financing to deal with the problem of disintermediation, to stimulate the construction and rehabilitation of residential housing, to facilitate the purchase and sale of existing residential housing, to provide construction and mortgage loans for projects, and to make loans to and purchase mortgage loans from private lending institutions, each on a quantifiable, measurable basis providing sufficient, clear evidence of the corporation’s goals and its success in achieving the goals.

(8)(a) It is necessary to create new programs to stimulate the construction and substantial rehabilitation of rental housing for eligible persons and families.

(b) It is necessary to create a state housing finance strategy to provide affordable workforce housing opportunities to essential services personnel in areas of critical state concern designated under s. 380.05, for which the Legislature has declared its intent to provide affordable housing, and areas that were designated as areas of critical state concern for at least 20 consecutive years before removal of the designation. The lack of affordable workforce housing has been exacerbated by the dwindling availability of developable land, environmental constraints, rising construction and insurance costs, and the shortage of lower-cost housing units. As this state’s population continues to grow, essential services personnel vital to the economies of areas of critical state concern are unable to live in the communities where they work, creating transportation congestion and hindering their quality of life and community engagement.