Atlanta Housing (AH) chief executive Terri Lee on Tuesday announced the housing authority will offer as much as $60,000 in down payment assistance to help AH rent-voucher recipients buy a house.
The initiative could launch as soon as June, AH spokespeople told Atlanta Civic Circle.
AH’s existing down payment assistance program offers up to $20,000 to lower income Atlantans who are first-time homebuyers – and up to $25,000 to current AH voucher holders, veterans, active military, first-responders, healthcare workers, and educators.
The new $60,000 down payment initiative is solely for Atlantans enrolled in AH’s Housing Choice Voucher Program for rental assistance, Lee said at AH’s annual “State of Atlanta Housing” event on May 12.
While program details remain scant, its objective is clear: Lee wants AH voucher-holders to “graduate” from government-subsidized rental units to homes they own.
“Our goal is not to move families to affordable housing. Our goal is to move families through affordable housing,” Lee said. “This new down payment assistance program is specifically for our residents that are graduating through the Housing Choice Voucher Program.”
To be eligible for AH rental assistance, Atlantans must make 50% or less of the area median income, which is about $40,000 for an individual. A rent-voucher recipient who starts to earn more than that will be eligible for the new downpayment funding from AH, Lee said.
Providing up to $60,000 for a down payment on a house will boost lower-income Atlanta renters’ ability to build wealth and economic stability, Lee added.
The median list price for houses in the city of Atlanta is $380,000, according to Realtor.com. That would require $38,000 for a 10% downpayment — or up to $76,000 for a 20% downpayment.
As voucher recipients exit AH’s rent-subsidy program for homeownership, it also frees up vouchers for the 20,000 people on AH’s waitlist for rental assistance, Lee said.
AH did not say how it will pay for the new $60,000 downpayment assistance initiative for AH voucher-holders, or how many Atlantans use the current down payment program each year.
The AH announcement follows the Trump administration’s unsuccessful attempt last year to cut federal funding for the Housing Choice Voucher Program, which is distributed through local housing authorities like AH.
The Trump administration’s fiscal year 2027 budget request for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) seeks to impose new eligibility requirements for rent-voucher recipients and limit HUD rental assistance to five years for people ages 18 to 62.