Leveraging the ULI Housing Report: Insights for Mission-Driven Success

Aug 5

In this webinar, our speakers explored the findings from the Urban Land Institute's latest housing study and discussed the data driven implications and what it means for advancing affordable housing in Atlanta.

Led by Mindy Schweitzer-Rawls, Director of Fundraising Services at Purpose Possible, this webinar included Tate Wilson, Director at KB Advisory Group—the organization hired by ULI Atlanta to produce the report, and Amanda Rhein, Executive Director at Atlanta Land Trust and the Chair of Mission Advancement for ULI.

In 2017, ULI recognized the urgent need to address affordable housing challenges in Atlanta, leading to the establishment of a working group focused on this issue. The initial housing strategy, titled "Affordable Atlanta," was published in January 2018 in partnership with KB Advisory Group. This study aimed to define affordability, identify Atlanta's housing issues, connect solutions with needs, and build consensus among stakeholders. The report update in 2023 revealed that the Atlanta housing situation had worsened, prompting new recommendations for action and collaboration across various sectors

Key insights include:

The intersection between income, housing affordability, housing attainability, and transportation
A loss of 130,000 units with a monthly cost of less than $1000 and how that affects households whose income does not increase at the rate of housing costs
Transportation costs as a percentage of household income are substantially higher for those at 80% AMI
There is no zip code in the metro area that a household at 80% AMI or less could have purchased a home at the median price in 2021
There are 391,878 cost burdened households in the Atlanta metro area

Anyone, at any income level, that is spending more than 30% of their gross income on housing (housing + utilities + insurance) is “cost burdened.” This can happen to anyone at above or below the median income level. It’s really important to devise solutions to meet people where they are based on their income levels, the size of their family that needs to be accommodated, their job location, etc.

“The greatest need is at the lowest income level but it’s also a supply and demand issue—people at higher income levels who struggle to afford housing put more demand on housing available to those at a lower AMI. A lack of supply at any level, affects the demand at all levels.”
- Amanda Rhein

Links to resources mentioned in the webinar are included below: