The Metro Atlanta Housing Strategy features a detailed set of strategies and related tactics designed to improve the region’s housing options.

The strategies listed are not intended to be prescriptive. Rather, it is a guide to help any community grappling with their housing challenges start a conversation, navigate this important and complex issue and provide possible solutions to have thoughtful analysis and discussion about before implementing.

Strategies:

Increase Supply

Provide the necessary tools for developers to contribute to the supply of a variety of both market-rate and affordable housing units.

Preserve Affordable Supply

Ensure that housing units remain accessible to low- to moderate-income households.

Reduce Housing & Transportation Costs

Increase housing options near job centers and advance mobility options throughout the region.

Expand Capital Resources

Provide financial incentives and mechanisms to foster the creation and preservation of affordable housing units.

Promote Housing Stability

Strengthen the ability of families and individuals to stay, access, and afford the costs of housing in both ownership and rental.

Develop Leadership & Collaboration on Affordability

Promote and enable education, communication, and collaboration around housing issues.


Potential tactics:

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Reduce Development Cost and Barriers

Address zoning and land use code that shapes development to provide housing options, including land use options, building sizes, building materials, building forms, parking, and more.

Leverage Public Land

Diversify the ways that publicly-owned land is used and managed to provide housing affordability options.

Establish Policies Supporting Affordable Housing

Local governments can expand housing-supportive laws and regulations to encourage development of affordable housing.

Reuse of Building and Land

As communities evolve, identify abandoned building and lands to be reused for housing purposes.

Provide Financial Incentives

Provide financial incentives to developers to enable more creative ways to use state/local tax policy and long-range financing in order to preserve existing housing supply.

Create Policy Incentives

Preserve existing housing supply with policy incentives to make it easier and more affordable to protect existing housing units.

Coordinate Across Agencies and among Governments

Engage in robust coordination efforts between different levels of government and across various state and local agencies to create, manage, and maintain existing affordable units.

Address Blight

Identify and address issues that lead to blight of neighborhoods.

Implement Community Development Strategies

Allow opportunities for housing options within a half-mile of mobility options, job centers, and community services.

Expand Transportation Options

Leverage existing transportation options and create new ones to lower transportation cost and reduce traffic.

Create and Attract New Financing Mechanisms

New funding mechanisms are needed to promote and incentivize the development and preservation of affordable housing.

Implement Tax or Bond Financing Mechanisms

Cities and counties can use government power to enable bond and tax financing mechanisms to provide financing for affordable housing.

Stabilize Existing Residents

Implement supportive educational programs and financial policies for residents to stabilize their current housing.

Promote Home Buying

Provide financial assistance and education to promote home buying.
  • Provide down payment assistance for first-time buyers of affordable homes. Resources: 
  • Develop a Family-Self Sufficiency Program - A comprehensive wealth-building program for residents and businesses including basics of homeownership, creating a realistic budget prior to purchase, foreclosure prevention, funding options for first-time buyers, financial education and literacy workshops/coaching, local job training programs, etc. Resources: 

Create Quality Rental Opportunities

Ensure the availability, safety and quality of rental opportunities.

Prevent Eviction

Implement targeted efforts to prevent eviction.

Build Capacity and Internal Resources to Address Housing

Expand internal capacity to address housing needs.

Promote Creative Collaboration

Collaborate across various industries, sectors, and organizations to create multi-disciplinary approach to provide housing options.

Be a Leader in Housing

Be a part of housing conversations, using tools to educate others and develop solutions to housing issues.