LISTEN: A range of topics, including funding developments, getting permits, and support for tenants, all wrap up on the final day of Atlanta's Affordable Housing Week conference. GPB's Amanda Andrews reports.

A projector screen says Q & A while rows of people face the front. A woman at a podium is speaking.

Visitors gathered at the Atlanta Habitat for Humanity for three days of workshops and educational panels.

Credit: Amanda Andrews / GPB News

Residents, developers, and realtors are wrapping up the final day at Atlanta’s third annual Affordable Housing Week conference.

The three-day housing event includes workshops and vendors. Speakers from Invest Atlanta, the Atlanta Department of City Planning and local real estate groups are looking at everything from funding to permits to tenant support.

Tarshema Harris is a real estate broker and a speaker at the conference. She said this conference is a chance to bridge knowledge gaps.

“My audience is gonna be people who have land, who are looking to acquire land, maybe have some land that they're looking to develop and don't understand and know what it looks like and what it takes,” Harris said.

Who qualifies for affordable housing and what qualifies as affordable both change based on data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Each year, HUD determines the area median income for a city which determines what is considered affordable based on local salaries.

Atlanta resident Anthony Smith lives in affordable housing. He came to the conference to learn about long-term plans to keep housing affordable.

“That’s coming to be a big problem — not just for myself, but for other people,” Smith said. “And in some people's situations, their income goes down, but the rent still goes up. I'd like for someone to look into that for us, please.”

Mayor Andre Dickens pledged the city will build or preserve 20,000 units of affordable housing by 2030.

Tags: affordable housing  real estate  Atlanta  Georgia  housing