My Safe Florida Home: Free Inspections and Matching Grants Explained

If you own an older home in Manatee or Sarasota County, the state of Florida will inspect it for hurricane weaknesses at no cost — and may hand you up to $10,000 toward fixing them. That's the short version of the My Safe Florida Home program, run by the Florida Department of Financial Services.

The longer version has real fine print: income-based priority groups, a strict do-not-start-work rule, and funding that comes and goes with the Legislature. After Ian in 2022 and the Helene–Milton one-two punch in 2024, this program is worth understanding properly. Here's how it actually works as of June 2026, with every detail checked against the official program guide.

Where the Program Stands Right Now (June 2026)

First, the honest status check. The Legislature gave My Safe Florida Home a fresh $280 million in the state budget passed in June 2025, and the program reopened to new applicants on August 4, 2025. Lawmakers didn't add any brand-new dollars in the 2026 session — but the budget they passed on May 29, 2026 (HB 5001E, effective July 1, 2026, and awaiting the governor's signature as of this writing) carries the program's unused balance forward into the new budget year: roughly $378 million for My Safe Florida Home, plus about $27 million for the companion My Safe Florida Condominium program. Much of that money is aimed at clearing the backlog of roughly 45,000 homeowners who already have completed inspections.

The good news: as of this writing, money is still flowing. News reports in May 2026 confirmed funds are keeping grants moving, and the official site at MySafeFLHome.com is still advertising free inspections and $10,000 grants — with the carried-over funding set to kick in July 1.

The caution: this program has a history of moving through its money fast. In early 2025, the waiting list reportedly topped 40,000 homeowners before the new budget passed. So treat availability as a moving target — check the official site for current application windows before making plans around grant money. The free inspection, at minimum, has been the most consistently available piece of the program.

Step One: The Free Wind Mitigation Inspection

Everything starts with a free hurricane mitigation inspection, performed by a state-contracted inspection company (you don't pick the inspector). There's no cost and no obligation — you can take the inspection and never apply for a grant.

Here's what you get:

• A completed Form OIR-B1-1802 — the uniform wind mitigation form Florida insurers use to calculate premium discounts. Homeowners normally pay an inspector out of pocket for this.
• A list of recommended improvements — the specific upgrades that would make your home stronger and unlock discounts.

After your application is approved, the assigned inspector contacts you within 7 days to schedule, and your report lands in the online portal within 14 days of the visit. One detail people miss: inspection reports expire after 24 months, so your grant application has to happen inside that window.

Worth knowing: this is a features inspection, not a condition inspection. It documents whether hurricane-resistant features are present — an aging roof with all the right features may get no recommendations at all.

The Grant Math: $2 From the State for Every $1 You Spend

There are two grant types, and the difference matters.

Matching grants work on reimbursement. The state pays $2 for every $1 you contribute — meaning you're reimbursed for two-thirds of the total project cost, up to a maximum state contribution of $10,000. You pay the contractor in full first, then submit proof of payment and get a check after a final inspection.

Your project cost	State reimburses	You pay
$9,000	$6,000	$3,000
$15,000	$10,000 (max)	$5,000
$20,000	$10,000 (max)	$10,000

Notice the sweet spot: at $15,000 in project cost, you've maxed out the state's $10,000. Those examples come straight from the official Homeowner's Guide.

Low-income grants are better still: eligible low-income homeowners can receive up to $10,000 with no matching requirement, and no paid-in-full invoice is needed before disbursement. "Low-income" means household income at or below 80% of the area median.

Either way, each homeowner gets one grant disbursement, ever — so it pays to plan the project carefully.

Who Qualifies — and Who Doesn't

For the free inspection, your home must be:

• A site-built, single-family detached home or townhouse (no condos, mobile or manufactured homes, multi-family buildings, or rentals)
• Owner-occupied, with a homestead exemption on file with your county property appraiser

For the grant, add these requirements:

• Insured dwelling value (Coverage A on your policy) of $700,000 or less
• The home's original building permit applied for before January 1, 2008 — which covers a huge share of the housing stock in Palmetto, Bradenton, and older Sarasota neighborhoods
• You name a licensed contractor before work begins, allow a final inspection, and share any insurance discount info with the program

Then there's the part that changed in recent years: priority groups. The Legislature now sorts applicants by age and income. Low-income homeowners 60 and older go first, then other low-income homeowners, then moderate-income homeowners (under 120% of area median income) 60+, then moderate-income homeowners of any age. Under the current program year's rules, homeowners above the moderate-income threshold can get the free inspection but are not eligible for a grant. You can check your area's income limits through HUD's published tables for Manatee and Sarasota counties.

What the Grant Pays For — Including When a New Roof Qualifies

Exactly four improvements are eligible for grant funding, and only when your inspection report recommends them:

• Opening protection — impact-rated windows, exterior doors, garage doors, and skylights (only the specific openings flagged in your report)
• Roof-to-wall attachments — clips or straps tying your trusses to your walls so the roof doesn't lift off
• Roof deck attachment — re-nailing the roof sheathing to current standards
• Secondary water resistance — a sealed roof deck (peel-and-stick underlayment or taped seams) that keeps water out even if the covering blows off

So does a full roof replacement qualify? Not as a standalone item — but here's the practical reality from the program's own guide: if your contractor must remove the roof covering to complete a recommended improvement (re-nailing the deck and adding secondary water resistance both require tear-off), the cost of replacing the roof covering can be included in the total project cost. You choose the material — shingle, tile, or metal — as long as the entire contiguous roof is replaced and secondary water resistance goes on. The program's own marketing puts it plainly: it can help qualified homeowners offset the cost of a new, stronger roof.

Two hard limits: roof patching or partial repairs are never eligible, and townhouses qualify for opening protection only.

The Insurance Payoff

This is where the program earns its keep even beyond the grant check. Florida law — section 627.0629, Florida Statutes — requires insurers to offer premium discounts for verified wind mitigation features. After your project passes final inspection, you submit the updated 1802 form to your insurance company and request the discounts. The program reports that homeowners who completed upgrades saved an average of $932 a year on premiums; your number will differ.

A new roof also helps you stay insurable. Under section 627.7011, an insurer can't refuse to write or renew your policy solely because of roof age while the roof is under 15 years old — and once it's older, you may need an inspection showing at least five years of useful life left. In a market as tight as ours, a documented, code-current roof is leverage.

How People Lose Their Grant — and How to Get This Right

The program's paperwork rules are unforgiving. The big ones:

• Never sign a contract, buy materials, or start work before your grant application is approved. Doing any of these results in denial — this is the most common and most painful mistake.
• Answer any "Request for Information" within 60 days, or your application is closed and cannot be reopened.
• You get one grant and one final inspection. If you're doing multiple improvements, finish them all before requesting the final inspection.
• Complete the work within one year of grant approval (a 6-month extension is available).
• Get several bids from licensed contractors — the program itself recommends this — and verify licenses at MyFloridaLicense.com.

Here's my take as someone who walks roofs in Manatee and Sarasota every week: the smartest move is knowing what your roof actually needs before you navigate any of this. Whether the grant window is open or not, the improvements the program targets — sealed roof decks, proper attachments, impact-rated openings — are the same ones that kept homes dry through Milton. If you'd like a straight answer on where your roof stands and which upgrades are worth pairing with a grant application, request a free inspection and I'll walk you through it — no pressure, no obligation. You can even get a head start by measuring your roof with our free satellite roof scanner.

Frequently Asked Questions