The freeze was initially reported by Axios Atlanta.
About 60% of voucher-receiving households were able to lease a unit within 180 days, according to a 2024 analysis of HUD administrative data by the nationwide charity Enterprise Community Partners.
About 40% of voucher holders nationwide already struggle to locate homes, even with assistance, according to housing expert and author Dan Immergluck, professor emeritus at Georgia State University. He stated that the last thing we need is to freeze rent increases.
According to Immergluck, they must maintain those rent adjustments in order to keep landlords in the program.
The freeze comes after Atlanta Housing said in July that it will slash its budget by $80 million and cut $51 million, or 13%, from financing for the Housing Choice program. According to the government, the cuts were made in preparation for lower federal spending.
According to Ferguson’s memo to the AJC, the decision was made as information and guidelines regarding federal financing and financial assistance programs continued to change. According to his letter, agency representatives believed it wise to immediately halt rental increases for AH’s Housing Choice Voucher Program.
Ferguson stated that the pause was being reviewed continuously and that it is mission-critical for landlords to participate in affordable housing initiatives.
Ferguson, who will leave his position on August 1, stated that AH will keep an eye on important legislative and regulatory developments, such as budget resolutions, appropriations bills, and rules that could affect the agency’s finances and capacity to accomplish its goals.
Contributed credit
Contributed credit
The hold would make it much more difficult for tenants to locate landlords who will accept their vouchers, according to Michael Lucas, executive director of the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation.
According to him, many families already have a difficult time finding homes, and they typically have 60 days before their voucher expires to do it. According to him, families that have been waiting for years may find that their options are limited.
According to Lucas, there will be an even greater market for the kind of slumlords that Atlantans all too frequently have to deal with as a result of all of that.
Terri Lee, the CEO of Atlanta Housing, turned down an interview request, and the mayor’s office did not immediately respond. However, Carolyn Smith, a spokesman for Atlanta Housing, stated that since the announcement, the organization has not noticed any notable changes from participating landlords.
Miguel Martinez-Jimenez is credited.
Miguel Martinez-Jimenez is credited.
In an emailed statement, Smith said the suspension is a part of a larger effort to guarantee Atlanta Housing can accomplish its key priorities and to safeguard housing stability for tenants in the face of uncertain federal funding.
Immergluck cited a number of potential federal housing cuts that would put Atlantans at risk and cause more individuals to lose their homes or end up homeless.
Immergluck stated that Trump administration suggestions imposing time limitations or work requirements could inflict another blow to low-income families, who are already projected to be negatively impacted by the rent halt.
Atlanta Housing is one of the few public housing agencies that does not need employment as a condition of housing assistance.
Stricter alternatives, such as state block grants for housing aid linked to job requirements and two-year restrictions for able-bodied individuals, were discussed in a recent brief from the Housing Solutions Lab at the New Furman Center at New York University. The Lab found that 70% of households with working members had been receiving assistance for more than two years and were in danger of losing it.
The proposed budget includes long-overdue measures to finally solve our flawed federal housing policy and guarantee that aid reaches the people who need it most, according to a White House Office of Management and Budget official in June.
Immergluck said that the majority of voucher recipients are either unable to work or are unable to do so, and that such measures will only result in more displacement. Simply put, they don’t earn enough money.
I can see how time constraints make sense. If there were employment that paid enough for individuals to afford housing, the reasoning could make sense, but the types of occupations these people can get don’t pay enough, he added.
According to Matthew Nursey, an activist for the advocacy group the Housing Justice League, the city should mandate that developers who receive tax breaks for affordable housing accept a certain quantity of vouchers.
Regarding the halt to rent increases, Nursey stated that the supply of affordable housing will decrease. There will be more evictions. There will be even more homeless people.
