Buckhead Housing Affordability Program Survey

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s latest Home Ownership Affordability Monitor update, the local housing market is unaffordable. What does “unaffordable” mean, exactly? Basically, the annual payment for the median-priced home in the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Alpharetta metropolitan statistical area now costs more than 30% of the local median income.

That lack of affordable housing means most of the 350 teachers at the Atlanta International School, a private school just south of Buckhead Village, aren’t residents of the district. The same is true for more than 90% of Buckhead’s workforce, according to ARC data.

Metro Atlanta has been trending in this direction for a while, which is why in 2021, Livable Buckhead applied for and was awarded an $80,000 Community Development Assistance Program (CDAP) grant to fund a housing affordability project exploration. Livable Buckhead is exploring the feasibility of a program in which employers assist in securing affordable housing units for employees, as well as gauging interest in such a program among both employers and residents. We are also assessing the feasibility of employer-assisted affordable housing units from both legal and policy perspectives.

Following up on a 2019 study on workforce housing and commuting patterns, Livable Buckhead is exploring the possibility of a housing affordability program. As a first step in this study, we are looking to better understand current and planned housing and work commutes of those who live/work in the Greater Atlanta Region. In addition to the surveys, we are also conducting interviews and focus groups that will inform the feasibility and design of this program.

The survey is anonymous to protect your privacy.