My Safe Florida Home grant rules
Who qualifies for the My Safe Florida Home hurricane grant under the 2026 statute, how the $2-for-$1 match and $10,000 cap work, who goes first, and the payback on your share.
4 minutes of reading | Statutes and tables to be re-checked by 2026-11-20
This is not the official program website. Applications, inspection bookings and the current funding status are only on the official My Safe Florida Home site run by the Florida Department of Financial Services. This page explains the rules in the statute and works out the numbers.
How the program works
My Safe Florida Home has two parts. First, a free hurricane mitigation inspection by an inspector the program authorizes. Second, a grant toward improvements that inspection recommends. They are separate applications, and an inspection doesn't guarantee a grant. Money comes in rounds the Legislature sets, so whether either part is taking applications this week is something only the program's own site can tell you; we don't repeat its status here, because an old notice read as today's would mislead.
The rules below are the 2026 text of s. 215.5586, Florida Statutes, read on November 6, 2026. That year's changes reached the statute through two laws: one of them (ch. 2026-233) says its amendments end on July 1, 2027, but the statute's own note says the identical amendments in ch. 2026-174 carry no end date and are meant to prevail.
Who can get an inspection
Under s. 215.5586(1)(a), the home must be:
- a single-family home on its own parcel, either detached or attached (sharing a wall, as a townhouse does) with no more than three stories,
- site-built and owner-occupied,
- covered by a homestead exemption.
Who can get a grant
On top of qualifying for an inspection, every condition in s. 215.5586(2)(a) must hold:
| Condition | 2026 rule |
|---|---|
| Insured value of the dwelling | $700,000 or less, for every applicant, low-income homes included |
| Age of the house | Built before January 1, 2008, as the county property appraiser's website shows |
| Household income | Low or moderate income as defined in s. 420.0004, F.S. |
| Inspection | An initial program inspection within the 24 months before the grant application |
| Afterwards | Allow a final inspection, and report the insurance discounts the work earns |
Who goes first
When applications outnumber the money, the statute sets the queue (s. 215.5586(2)(i)):
| Group | Applicants |
|---|---|
| 1 | Low income, 60 or older |
| 2 | Other low-income applicants |
| 3 | Moderate income, 60 or older |
| 4 | Other moderate-income applicants |
| 5 | Everyone else who applied for an inspection |
The calculator shows which group your answers put you in.
How much the state pays
- Standard grant: $1 from you for every $2 from the state, up to a state contribution of $10,000 (s. 215.5586(2)(c)).
- Low-income homeowners: up to $10,000 with no match required (s. 215.5586(2)(h)).
| Cost of the work | State pays (standard) | You pay | State pays (low-income) | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $9,000 | $6,000 | $3,000 | $9,000 | $0 |
| $12,000 | $8,000 | $4,000 | $10,000 | $2,000 |
| $15,000 | $10,000 | $5,000 | $10,000 | $5,000 |
| $21,000 | $10,000 | $11,000 | $10,000 | $11,000 |
The cap bites at $15,000: above that, every extra dollar is yours.
What the grant pays for
Only improvements the inspection recommends (s. 215.5586(2)(e)):
- Opening protection: exterior doors, garage doors, windows and skylights.
- Reinforcing roof-to-wall connections.
- Improving the strength of roof-deck attachment.
- Installing secondary water resistance for the roof together with replacing the roof covering.
The 2026 text no longer limits attached homes to opening protection; detached and attached homes draw on the same list. The work needs every required local permit and inspection and properly licensed contractors (s. 215.5586(2)(d)), and the department may make improvements to all openings a condition (s. 215.5586(2)(g)).
Worked example: does it pay back?
A homestead house in Fort Myers, built in 1998, insured for $380,000, with a moderate household income. The inspection recommends impact windows and a reinforced garage door; the contractor's price is $15,000.
- State share: two-thirds of $15,000 is $10,000, exactly at the cap.
- Your share: $5,000.
- Queue: group 4, or group 3 if the owner is 60 or older.
- If the new opening protection raises the wind mitigation discount enough to save $600 a year, your $5,000 comes back in 8.3 years. At $1,000 a year, five years.
Use the wind mitigation calculator to estimate the saving, then switch this calculator to More factors and enter it.
Practical points
- Get the inspection report first; the grant can only fund what it recommends.
- Look up your house on the county property appraiser's website: the year built shown there is the one that counts.
- Ask the contractor for a price per opening, so you can see what fits within $15,000 of total work.
- Keep permits and final inspection records; the insurer will want an updated wind mitigation form after the work to apply the new discount.
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