Introduction

Whether it’s teachers, medical assistants, skilled laborers, or hospitality employees, many of our longtime neighbors can no longer afford to call this community home. In fact, 1 in 3 households are struggling to afford housing in Pinellas.¹ That’s why the local governments in the Advantage Pinellas Housing Compact have developed this Housing Action Plan: to create more housing choices attainable by people at all income levels.

The Compact sets shared policy goals to increase housing linked to transportation, jobs, schools, workforce development, and other services. This Housing Action Plan aims to meet those goals over the next 10 years with a range of actions.

The Action Plan provides both short- and long-term actions that Compact members and other community partners can pursue together. Partners work together to address affordable housing needs, but each local government retains authority over local decision-making, including funding, staff, and land-use regulations.

The Action Plan combines local research and lessons from successful housing initiatives across Florida and the United States. It suggests streamlining local regulations, creating new funding sources, opening the door to more diverse housing types, preventing long-time residents from being priced out of the market, and building a broader coalition of public and private partners to collaborate on creative solutions.

Compact members agreed on the following goal areas for the Action Plan, calling for specific actions for the short-term (1-3 years) and long-term (10 years):

The final two sections define the timeframe and guidelines for local government implementation across the county.

Neither the County nor any of the cities can do this alone. We need all of our partners, including local governments, nonprofit agencies, businesses, developers and community advocates to help champion this Action Plan to make it a success.

The Housing Action Plan was published in April 2023 through coordination by members of the Advantage Pinellas Housing Compact: Pinellas County, Forward Pinellas, and the cities of Clearwater, Gulfport, Largo, Oldsmar, Pinellas Park, St. Petersburg and Treasure Island.

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¹In 2020, 34% of Pinellas households were considered “cost-burdened,” paying more than 30% of their income on housing; this number has likely increased since this data was collected. For more background see Goal 3

Housing Action Plan Introduction

Introduction

Let’s make sure the people who make Pinellas County work can continue to thrive here in our community!

Let’s make sure the people who make Pinellas County work
can continue to thrive here in our community!