Home » Strategies

Increase Supply

Identify areas appropriate for higher density

  1. Downtown districts
  2. Commercial and employment areas or corridors
  3. Near amenities (schools, restaurants, retail, grocery stores)
  4. Public land
  5. Near transit stops: MARTA, Bus Rapid Transit, Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)
  6. Trails and bikeways

Mandate and incentivize affordable housing development

  1. Implement Inclusionary Zoning ordinance
  2. Expedite permitting processes for affordable housing
  3. Waive fees for affordable housing
  4. Allow density bonuses for additional affordable units

Support smaller homes and ownership opportunities 

  1. Allow Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)
  2. Reduce minimum home size requirements
  3. Allow missing middle, cottage, and small housing types
  4. Allow lot subdivisions and/or flag lots to promote ownership
  5. Modify setbacks, heights to encourage diverse housing types
  6. Develop home ownership programs and partnerships

Allow innovative housing types

  1. Enact missing middle ordinances
  2. Repurpose land and buildings for affordable housing
  3. Consider modular designs
  4. Partner for workforce housing, supportive housing
  5. Ensure mixed-income, mixed-use housing aligns with new commercial development
  6. Partner with employers for Employer-Assisted housing

Establish new or partner with existing housing entities

  1. Assist in creating or joining a Land Bank
  2. Assist in creating or partnering with a Community Land Trust
  3. Partner with a Housing Authority 

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Expand Capital Resources

Establish local housing funding resources and programs

  1. Create a Housing Trust Fund and seed with general funds
  2. Consider bonds as a funding resource for affordable housing
  3. Explore Tax Allocation Districts and TIF Funding

Identify regional funding mechanisms

  1. Identify entitlement funds including CDBG, HOME, HOPWA administered by the Georgia Department of Community Affairs (DCA)
  2. Identify Federal funding sources
  3. Identify philanthropic resources

Collaborate on new programs and partnerships

  1. Create and support a Land Trust to purchase and develop permanently affordable housing
  2. Collaborate with non-profit and for-profit developers on housing
  3. Collaborate with Development Authorities, Housing Authorities

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Develop Leadership & Collaboration on Affordability

Identify housing needs through planning

  1. Commission a housing assessment for your community
  2. Require affordable housing recommendations in planning updates
  3. Identify a pipeline of potential affordable housing development projects

Form committees and work groups for housing

  1. Connect with housing experts
  2. Hold a local housing summit
  3. Create and support a local housing task force and its recommendations
  4. Involve schools, local employers, housing authorities, and development authorities in affordable housing challenges and solutions

Support local leaders through regional programs

  1. Connect staff and elected leaders to local leadership programs for affordable housing

Lead and partner for affordable and equitable housing

  1. Engage community members on affordable housing
  2. Convene with local mission-driven developers and property owners to ensure development of affordable housing and aligned vision
  3. Educate and advocate for housing equity

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Preserve Affordable Supply

Inventory affordable housing stock

  1. Inventory existing affordable housing in your community, both subsidized and unsubsidized
  2. Set preservation targets

Connect property owners with resources

  1. For subsidized properties, connect with property owner at least 5 years prior to expiration of affordability
  2. For unsubsidized properties, identify funding streams within jurisdiction and in the metro area for preservation, including public and philanthropic

Create preservation programs and partnerships

  1. Engage community members, HOAs, and property managers to develop preservation strategies
  2. Allow small property owners to participate in home renovation
  3. Create or partner with an existing land trust, land bank, or housing authority to develop acquisition strategies

Leverage funding resources for preservation

  1. Housing Trust Fund loans or grants
  2. Historic preservation tax credits
  3. Community Development Block Grant (CDBG)
  4. Community Development Institutions (CDFI)

Address blight

  1. Develop and implement codes that address blight
  2. Consider requirements for inspections
  3. Explore existing or new home repair programs
  4. Support efforts for non-profit and tenant purchase of property (TOP)

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Promote Housing Stability

Identify and educate on housing instability

  1. Educate staff, elected officials, and community on the indicators of housing instability in your area
  2. Connect with school system and research McKinney Vento numbers to identify student housing need
  3. Commission data on resident stability, housing, and homelessness

Establish housing stability policies and programs

  1. Create, fund, and partner on new or existing home repair programs
  2. Identify funds for emergency rental or ownership needs
  3. Ensure homestead exemptions create stability for low-income seniors
  4. Create property tax programs to assist with rising property taxes
  5. Provide or partner for homebuyer education and funding assistance
  6. Allow Accessory Dwelling Units and incentivize their construction
  7. Encourage or require voucher acceptance for projects with public funding or tax abatements
  8. Modify policies to ensure co-living is an option in your community

Connect to resources and establish partnerships

  1. Establish partnership, shared goals with local housing authority
  2. Increase QAP points for LIHTC projects in your jurisdiction
  3. Connect homeowners and rental property owners with resources for historic tax credit projects, energy-saving programs, and education
  4. Create and support a Land Trust to provide permanently affordable housing 

Reduce evictions and homelessness

  1. Form a committee or designate staff to address homelessness
  2. Direct public land to permanent housing partners
  3. Collaborate with schools, churches, and housing agencies
  4. Establish communications with local Continuum of Care (COC)

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Reduce Housing & Transportation Costs

Increase walkability

  1. Identify developable land around transit stops, stations, employment centers, and trails
  2. Connect new and existing neighborhoods with amenities, trails.
  3. Modify policies as needed to allow smaller housing types, increased density, and innovative designs in developments near transit, trails, and employment
  4. Plan and connect amenities to housing

Incentivize or mandate affordability near transit and jobs

  1. Provide density bonuses for affordable housing
  2. Consider incentives such as tax allocation districts and inclusionary zoning
  3. Partner with employers for workforce housing development
  4. Activate transit and employment centers with mixed-use, mixed-income development
  5. Seek developer partners to apply for Low-Income Housing Tax Credits

Reduce costs of housing near transit and amenities

  1. Modify policies to allow for reduced or eliminated parking requirements near transit, trails, and employment centers
  2. Allow increased density for housing near transit or amenities
  3. Lean into subsidies, including Low-Income Housing Tax Credits to ensure housing near transit is affordable
  4. Partner with transit agencies, non-profit developers, and housing authorities to create a funding and development partnership strategy
  5. Encourage, incentivize, and create policies for developments that reduce owner or tenant energy costs and reduce unit size
  6. Identify Federal transportation grants to facilitate planning and implementation

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