07 Mar KB Advisory Group leads Georgia Statewide Housing Needs Analysis for Enterprise Community Partners
Georgia is in the midst of an ever-growing housing crisis. The state’s population has grown at one of the fastest rates over the past decade thanks to robust and successful economic development efforts, a beautiful climate, and other attractive attributes; however, housing production and preservation, especially of units affordable to most Georgians, has not kept up. This underproduction, combined with the increasing gap between working wages and home prices has created an environment that threatens housing stability for renters and keeps access to wealth-building potential of homeownership out of reach for many Georgians.
Enterprise Community Partners, in partnership with Georgia Advancing Communities Together and the Center for Community Progress, engaged KB Advisory Group to analyze these trends and make the case for investment in Georgia’s State Housing Trust Fund for the homeless and local housing trust funds to support the preservation and development of affordable housing and improve access to homeownership. Key takeaways from the study are summarized below.
There is a mismatch between the current housing inventory and a growing portion of Georgia households.
Over half a million Georgia households are severely cost-burdened, paying more than 50% of their earned income on housing related expenses, leaving less income available to pay down debts, purchase food and other necessities, and access medical care. This cost-burden increases the chance of housing instability, putting households at risk of eviction, foreclosure, and even homelessness.
There are observable housing disparities across race.
One of the most noticeable disparities is the difference in cost-burden across race. Black Georgians have a higher rate of cost-burden than White Georgians by a measure of 11%. This is true of both renter-occupied households and owner-occupied households. The higher rate of cost-burden experienced by Black households contributes to greater housing instability. Black households also pay a higher percentage of their household income on housing and housing-related expenses.
Housing issues hamper workforce and economic development efforts.
Workers earning entry-level wages in Georgia are not earning enough to afford the average-priced home in any region of Georgia. These rising home prices and rents lead to limited availability of housing options that are attainable at the wages earned by entry-level wage workers.
To demonstrate the urgency of this need for additional investment in the production of affordable workforce housing, the report highlights four major economic development projects from different regions across the state: the Rivian manufacturing facility in Walton County, the Hyundai Motor Group manufacturing facility in Bryan County, the Hyundai Motor Group + SK manufacturing facility in Bartow County, and the Anderson Corporation manufacturing facility in Henry County. In each of these areas, there is a severe lack of affordable housing for the estimated workers associated with these projects.
Housing Need and Economic Impact
To determine housing need statewide, county-level information on multiple variables including population growth, housing unit production, household income, and tenure were agglomerated at the regional planning area level. To accommodate the future population growth, make up for years of undersupply, and modernize the housing stock over the next decade, KB analysts estimated that 715,000 housing units should be built.
The annual economic impact of reaching this goal was estimated for each region. Ultimately, the state would see billions in added value, local income, and local taxes and hundreds of thousands of local jobs.
KB analysts identified statewide housing initiatives that support housing development and recommended a set of policies focusing on additional investment in the Georgia State Housing Trust Fund for the Homeless and dedicated funding for Housing Trust Funds across the state. These policies contribute significantly to facilitating the production and preservation of affordable housing in Georgia, forming an essential part of the solution to the state’s housing crisis.
To read the full report, click here.
To read a summary of the report from Enterprise Community Partners, click here.