It’s not often these days that candidates from across the political spectrum find common ground. But on the subject of how to create more affordable homes, both Democrats and Republicans running for higher office in Georgia this year can agree on one thing: It’s time to address the rise of corporate-owned housing.

In a year where affordability issues are top of mind for many voters, the cost of everyday necessities like housing, gas and health insurance may be a key factor motivating Georgia residents at the polls this year.

Housing in particular is the largest expense for most Americans, with data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics  showing that housing accounts for about 33% of the average consumer’s annual spending. Experts say there are a variety of reasons that housing prices are rising, including increased costs for labor and materials and strict zoning laws. 

But in Georgia, the role that institutional investors play in the housing market may also be a key factor. A 2024 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office showed that a quarter of all single family rental homes in Atlanta were owned by institutional investors, which studies say may have contributed to increased rent and home prices.

“We are the epicenter of corporate investment in housing nationwide,” said Taylor Shelton, an associate professor of geography at Georgia State University who studies corporate-owned housing. “Here in Atlanta, it’s [an issue] that is impossible to ignore, given how large a share of the housing market these companies have come to control.”

Warnock: New federal housing law designed to ‘stop the spread’ of corporate-owned homes

And as the November midterm elections grow nearer, candidates up and down the ticket and on both sides of the aisle have shown a willingness to combat the proliferation of corporate-owned housing. U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, a Democrat who is running for reelection, launched an investigation into the issue last year, and voted to pass a bipartisan housing bill that caps the number of single-family homes an institutional investor can own at 350. His rival, Republican Congressman Mike Collins, also voted in favor of the bill.

In the race for governor, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms has emphasized the need for limits on corporate-owned housing. But her opponent, Republican Rick Jackson, said he would leave regulation of corporate-owned housing up to the federal government and has instead proposed freezing property taxes and eliminating regulations that he says are driving up the cost of home construction and ownership. 

In the lieutenant governor’s race, very little connects the two candidates in terms of policy. On housing, Democratic nominee Josh McLaurin, a state senator from Sandy Springs, has promised to address restrictive zoning laws that he says make it hard to build smaller houses, townhomes and accessory dwelling units that could be more affordable for Georgia residents. 

His Republican counterpart in the race, Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming, said he wants to reduce building and permitting regulations to make it easier and cheaper for developers to build housing, as well as expand a state-run program that provides financing options for first-time homebuyers. 

But both have pledged to tackle the issue of corporate-owned housing. During the 2026 legislative session, Dolezal introduced a bill that would prevent institutional investors from owning more than 500 single-family homes and ban international private investors from buying rental property. The bill passed the Senate in a 49-3 vote, but did not make it to a vote in the House. Still, Dolezal said the bill was an important step in raising awareness about the issue.

“There was, I think, a universal recognition of the need to address that,” he said.

McLaurin said he has witnessed issues his constituents have experienced with corporate-owned housing firsthand, and is “willing to pursue every available option” to limit their presence in Georgia.

“Large corporations who buy up a lot of housing tend not to see the purchase as anything other than a financial investment,” he said. “They tend not to keep the human concerns of their residents at the front of their mind, and you see that even in places like my district.”

And though members of both parties have taken steps to elevate the issue of corporate-owned housing, experts say that addressing what they say are weak landlord-tenant protections in Georgia may be a key part of the solution. Part of the reason that Atlanta has become such a hub of corporate ownership is because there are fewer guardrails protecting those who live in corporate-owned property in Georgia compared to other states, Shelton said.

“These large corporations are able to come in and act with almost total impunity in the way that they raise rents and fees, the kind of neglect of maintenance that they’re known for, how often they file for eviction as a core part of their business model,” he said. “All of these things are really not possible in many other parts of the country.”

Natallie Keiser, the executive director of HouseATL, said she was disappointed that housing issues haven’t been a more prominent campaign issue this year, citing a 2025 survey from the Atlanta Regional Commission in which a plurality of residents said housing affordability was Atlanta’s biggest issue. Roughly 35% of residents said investors buying up rental housing was contributing to affordability issues.

“We had the survey from the Atlanta Regional Commission saying that it’s the number one issue for metro Atlanta residents,” she said. “To not see it be at the top of the list for our candidates is very concerning.”

Policies that protect renters, in particular, are often missing from candidates’ platforms on both sides of the aisle, she added.

“Tenant protections are a huge issue, especially when we talk about institutional investment,” she said. “Institutional investors come to Georgia not just because we have a lack of housing supply and a population growth, so there’s a clear market, but also because we have very weak tenant protections.”

Allowing local municipalities to establish rental registries and policies that require landlords to disclose all fees and rental costs upfront, she said, could also help address the issue.

“There should be some truth in advertising around fee transparency, which I think would go a long way towards addressing the large investor-owned business model,” she said.