Lower-income Seminole County residents who own a mobile home could soon apply for county grants to cover a few months of lot rent, help with a move if their park shuts down, or pay for repairs to a failing roof or air conditioner.
County commissioners are asked Tuesday to send the state a revised version of the county's three-year plan for State Housing Initiatives Partnership money, known as SHIP, adding a new strategy aimed at manufactured housing. The request sits on the consent agenda for the board's 9:30 a.m. meeting on Oct. 13.
What changed in Tallahassee
According to the county staff summary, the Legislature passed SB 594 this year, which removed a rule that had capped spending on manufactured housing at 20% of a local government's SHIP allocation. The law also requires each county or city that receives the money to add or update a strategy for mobile home owners, including those pushed out when a park closes.
The three kinds of help
The proposed strategy, covering the 2026-27 and 2027-28 budget years, offers grants that do not have to be repaid:
- Relocation: up to $10,000 for owner-occupants who lose their housing because their mobile home park closes.
- Lot rent: up to $5,000, covering no more than six months.
- Repairs: up to $20,000 for emergency fixes to problems that threaten a household's health or safety, such as roofing, electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling, and accessibility work.
Only households in the program's two lowest income tiers, very low and low, would qualify. The county's Affordable Housing Advisory Committee reviewed the strategy July 17 and, after what staff described as much discussion, endorsed it with that income limit.
