What Happened to Georgia's Affordable Housing Funding This Session

This is Part 2 of our three-part recap of the 2026 Georgia Legislative Session. (Read Part 1: The Homelessness Bill That Passed.)

Of all the issues we tracked this session, affordable housing funding is the one where Sandy Springs Together spent the most energy. Georgia’s Low-Income Housing Tax Credit remains one of the state’s most important tools for building apartments affordable to working families. This session, lawmakers considered a major cut to the program, but that proposal failed. A separate bill still changed the program by placing a temporary annual cap on state housing credits. Here is what happened and what it means for our community.

Protecting Funding for Affordable Homes

This is the area where we spent the most energy this session.

Georgia's Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (a state program that makes it financially possible for developers to build apartments affordable to working families) has been one of the most important tools for creating affordable housing. Many of the apartment communities right here in Sandy Springs were built in the late 80s and early 90's with LIHTC support. We wrote a full explainer earlier this year about why this program matters.

This session, lawmakers considered a major reduction to the program. SB 476 would have cut the state credit from a full match of the federal LIHTC to 50% for new projects starting in 2027. That bill passed the Senate but stalled in the House.

A separate bill, HB 1199, was signed into law by Governor Kemp on March 20. HB 1199 placed a temporary $100 million annual cap on Georgia’s state housing tax credit for 2026 through 2028.

What does that mean for Sandy Springs? The core one-to-one match remains in place for now, but the new cap could increase competition for credits and limit how many affordable housing projects move forward in a given year. That matters in a state where the need for attainable rental housing remains high.

Meanwhile, SB 476 was part of a broader push to reduce income taxes, and lawmakers looked to the housing credit reduction as one possible revenue offset. That tax package did not clear the House before adjournment. Larger-scale housing trust fund expansion proposals did not materialize this session.

What Happens Next

Unlike some of the bills we covered in Part 1 of this series, HB 1199 is already law. Governor Kemp signed it on March 20. The temporary $100 million annual cap on Georgia’s state housing tax credit is now in place for 2026 through 2028. The proposed 50% match cut, however, did not pass.

What that means for Sandy Springs is straightforward: the full state match remains in place for now, but the new cap could make affordable housing projects compete harder for limited credits in the years ahead.

You can find your state legislator at legis.ga.gov/find-my-legislator  and let them know that affordable housing matters to Sandy Springs. And stay tuned for Part 3 of our recap, covering local control, renter protections and transportation.