Rep. Tangie Herring Advances Family-Focused Housing Bill to the Rules Committee

ATLANTA - State Representative Tangie Herring (D-Macon) has advanced House Bill 1166 out of the House Committee on Governmental Affairs, sending this housing measure directly to the House Rules Committee. Rep. Herring emphasizes that this legislation would provide a solution to the statewide housing inventory crisis by removing unnecessary zoning red tape for small residential dwellings, all while preserving the local safeguards that protect Georgia communities.

"House Bill 1166 is fundamentally about families," said Rep. Herring. "It is about allowing parents, grandparents and adult children to stay together on the same property when life circumstances change. The bill simply dictates that on residential property, a homeowner may build one secondary dwelling of 400 square feet or less without going through a lengthy and arbitrary zoning decision."

Rep. Herring further emphasizes that the legislation comes at a critical time for the state as the cost of living continues to rise and highlights that a recent analysis by Moody's Analytics found that Georgia is facing an acute housing shortage, with a deficit of 41,000 homes in the homeownership market and a shortage of 35,000 rental units. She emphasizes that this lack of inventory is impacting workforce housing and essential professionals are being priced out of the very communities they serve, including first year public school teachers who make an average starting salary of approximately $45,841 a year.

"To address this crisis, the bill empowers homeowners to create a small space for a grandmother who can no longer live alone, a returning adult child getting back on their feet or a caregiver who needs to be close by," added Rep. Herring. "The legislation is strictly limited to only one secondary unit per parcel, and it only applies to property that already has a compliant primary residence. This is not large-scale development, it is not multi-unit housing, and it is not density expansion across neighborhoods."

Rep. Herring highlights that the bill explicitly protects public safety and infrastructure standards and notes that local governments will still retain absolute authority over state minimum building codes, septic systems, historic districts, floodplain participation requirements and manufactured housing standards.

"We are simply removing unnecessary red tape, while preserving the safeguards that protect our communities," Rep. Herring added. "This is a free-market solution that gives Georgians flexibility, while maintaining the standards everyone expects, without requiring a single dime of taxpayer subsidy."

As a next step, HB 1166 will be reviewed by the House Rules Committee, which will determine if the measure will be scheduled for a full floor vote by the House of Representatives.

Rep. Herring encourages constituents, housing advocates and local leaders to contact their representatives to express support for this legislation.

The full text of HB 1166 may be found here.

Representative Tangie Herring represents the citizens of District 145, which includes portions of Bibb and Monroe counties. She was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2024 and currently serves on the Agriculture & Consumer Affairs, Code Revision, Economic Development & Tourism and Urban Affairs committees.

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