Florida down payment assistance — the current programs, verified

Florida Housing Finance Corporation runs the statewide down-payment-assistance stack. Amounts and availability below were checked against floridahousing.org on July 23, 2026 — and the standing rule of this page: these programs commit their funds and pause without much notice, so verify current availability with a participating lender before you rely on any of this.

The statewide programs

• Florida Assist (FL Assist) — up to $10,000 as a 0-percent, non-amortizing, deferred second mortgage: no monthly payment; repaid in full when you sell, refinance, satisfy the first mortgage, or move out. Not forgivable.
• FL HLP Second Mortgage — $12,500 (the current figure — higher than the $10,000 often cited in older articles) as a 3-percent amortizing second over 30 years: it carries a monthly payment, and that payment counts in your debt-to-income qualification.
• HFA Preferred / HFA Advantage PLUS — 3, 4, or 5 percent of the first-mortgage amount as a forgivable second, forgiven 20 percent per year over five years; only with Florida Housing's conventional first-mortgage products.
• Hometown Heroes — up to 5 percent of the first mortgage (minimum $10,000, maximum $35,000) as a 0-percent deferred second, for eligible Florida-based workers: health care, school staff, first responders, public safety and court employees, child care workers, active military and National Guard, and veterans employed full-time by a Florida employer.
  Funding status, honestly: Florida Housing's program documents were re-issued dated July 13, 2026 — consistent with widely reported new fiscal-year funding — but the corporation's own press page still shows the prior round fully committed as of February 2026 and no dedicated reopening release. Translation: ask a participating lender for TODAY'S status before counting on it; prior rounds have run out in months.

The rules that apply across the stack

• First-time buyer means the IRS three-year test: "you cannot have owned AND occupied your primary residence for the last three years prior to purchase" (veteran exemptions exist — confirm yours with the lender).
• Income and purchase-price limits vary by county (and household size) — see Florida Housing's homebuyer program page and the current Hometown Heroes county limits (Hometown Heroes uses its own, generally higher, limits).
• You apply through a participating lender, not to Florida Housing directly — the program page's own words: "Must work with an approved, participating, Program Lender."
• Local programs stack on top: many counties and cities run their own assistance through SHIP — find your local contact in Florida Housing's SHIP local government directory.

See how an assistance second changes the whole picture on the closing cost worksheet, and what your property taxes will really be with the buyer tax estimator.