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DCA officials say Georgia Housing Credit drives most affordable rental development, with 35% rural set‑aside
Summary
The Department of Community Affairs told the State Planning & Community Affairs committee its Georgia Housing Credit (including a 9% federal credit and matched state credit) is the primary tool for developing affordable rental housing, with a 35% rural set‑aside and protections that keep properties rent‑restricted beyond the credit period.
The Department of Community Affairs told the State Planning & Community Affairs committee that the Georgia Housing Credit is a principal engine for affordable rental housing in the state. Laurel Hart, DCA's division director for housing and finance, said the program uses a federal 9% credit paired with a matching state credit and relies on a pay‑for‑success model that ties awards to completed, occupied properties.
"The Georgia Housing Credit is one of DCA's largest and most successful tools for encouraging private investment in the creation and preservation of affordable rental housing," Hart said. She said federal awards are matched by a state credit and DCA includes a 35% rural set‑aside and a rural preservation program to support smaller counties.
Hart told legislators that tax credit projects are responsible for nearly all affordable rental housing built and preserved since the program's federal authorization in 1986, and that Georgia tax credit properties now support roughly 100,000 housing units across the state. She noted that credits are awarded only after properties are completed and occupied and that the program can recapture credits for noncompliance, creating oversight incentives for private investors.
Committee members pressed on scale and timing. DCA said about 290 properties were funded in the last five years and that in one recent year federal and state matching credits produced roughly 2,300 units. DCA officials said rising construction costs and growing need mean allocations fund fewer new units than demand requires, and they offered to provide more detailed, location‑level market studies on request.
DCA highlighted Myrtle Terrace, a senior property that received the National Charles Edson Award for Excellence, as an example of a development that pairs housing with on‑site health partnerships to support aging residents.
The committee requested additional historic data on credit awards and preservation timelines; DCA agreed to provide consolidated data and market study materials to lawmakers.
