Helping DeKalb Homeowners Stay Home

Is Your Home in Need of Critical Repairs? DeKalb BrighterHome Can Help

For a lot of DeKalb County residents, the home they live in today is the same home they’ve lived in for decades. That kind of history matters. But so does the reality that older homes come with older systems. And at some point, those systems need attention.

DeKalb County and Decide DeKalb Development Authority are launching the DeKalb BrighterHome Program, an owner-occupied rehabilitation initiative designed to help eligible legacy homeowners make critical repairs to their homes so they can stay in them safely for years to come.

Why This Program Exists

DeKalb County was largely built out between the late 1950s and early 1980s. That means a significant portion of our housing stock is anywhere from 45 to 70 years old. Roofs age. Electrical systems wear out. Plumbing fails. HVAC units stop functioning. For homeowners on fixed or limited incomes, the cost of addressing those issues can feel insurmountable. And when repairs get deferred long enough, the consequences go beyond the home itself.

When a homeowner can’t afford to fix what’s broken, they sometimes face a difficult choice: Stay in an unsafe or deteriorating home, or sell and leave the neighborhood they’ve been a part of for years. Neither option is acceptable to us. Displacement destabilizes families and communities alike, and it chips away at the wealth that homeowners have spent years building through their equity.

BrighterHome is designed to change that equation. By helping homeowners address critical repairs, we’re also helping them stay in their homes, maintain their property values, and preserve the generational wealth that comes with homeownership.

What the Program Covers

This is not a home makeover program. BrighterHome provides funding for the kinds of repairs that keep a home safe, warm, dry, and accessible. That includes roofing repairs, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, limited structural repairs, accessibility modifications for seniors or residents with mobility issues, corrections for some outstanding code violations, exterior painting and pressure washing.

We’ve even included  up to $2,000 within each home’s budget for limited landscaping.

The program maximum is $30,000 per home, which is an all-in figure that includes contractor fees. However, eligible homeowners can also apply for DeKalb County’s existing Special Purpose Home Repair Program through the Community Development Department, which offers up to an additional $14,000. For homeowners who qualify for both, the total potential benefit is up to $44,000 in repairs.

Who Is Eligible?

To qualify for BrighterHome, you must meet all of the following criteria:

• • You own and currently occupy the home as your primary residence
  • You have lived in and owned the home for at least the last 10 years
  • Your combined household income is at or below 80% of the Area Median Income (AMI), adjusted for household size
  • You have not received assistance through the DeKalb County Special Purpose Home Repair Program in the last 10 years
  • The property is located within DeKalb County

• There is no age requirement to participate in the program.

Income limits are based on HUD’s 2026 AMI figures for the Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metro area.The 2026 80% AMI for a 4 person household is $94,250. 

Preferred Applicants

All eligible applications will be scored and ranked. Certain households will receive additional preference in that scoring process, including households earning below 60% AMI, applicants who are disabled, military veterans, applicants who are 62 years of age or older, and homeowners who have lived in their home for 15 or more years rather than the 10-year minimum.

How the Program Works

Once applications open, Decide DeKalb will serve as the program administrator. They will review and verify all applications, and homeowners will be assigned a contractor from a pre-qualified bench that Decide DeKalb will assemble through a competitive procurement process. Contractors will be organized into three tiers based on experience and assigned to specific commission districts to ensure equitable coverage across the county.

Your assigned contractor will conduct a home inspection and work with you directly to develop a scope of work. That scope has to be mutually agreed upon, and the focus will be on the most critical and necessary repairs within the budget. Decide DeKalb will also assign a staff lead to support each project, and there will be oversight inspections during construction to ensure quality and accountability throughout the process.

Once construction is complete and the project has a final sign-off, you will enter a 10-year compliance period. During that time, annual check-ins will confirm that you continue to occupy the home as your primary residence for the full 10 years.

About the Forgivable Grant Structure

The funding provided through BrighterHome functions as a forgivable grant. As long as you remain in the home as your primary residence for the full 10 years following the completion of repairs, the full amount is forgiven. If you sell or relocate before that 10-year period ends, the grant amount will need to be repaid. There is no interest attached to the obligation.

A subordinate lien will be placed on the property to reflect this arrangement. That lien is lifted once the residency requirement has been fulfilled.

A Note for Condo Owners and Senior Residents

Condo owners may face some specific limitations given that exterior repairs and common areas typically fall under the jurisdiction of the condo association. The program is exploring parameters that would allow condo owners to access funding for interior repairs within the space they solely own and control. More details will be available as those guidelines are finalized.

For senior residents who want to age in place, accessibility modifications are an eligible repair category. The program also intends to work with partner organizations that specialize in serving seniors to ensure that contractors are properly trained for those interactions, like in approaching homeowners with the patience, care, and transparency that those conversations require.

What to Expect on the Timeline

The housing bonds that fund this program are slated to close in August 2026. The contractor procurement process, an Request For Qualifications that Decide DeKalb will open for roughly 45 to 60 days, is expected to launch in July. Board approval of the selected contractors is anticipated by October, with applications for homeowners opening in Q1 2027. Actual construction and renovation work is expected to begin in early 2027.

Stay Connected

If you own a home in DeKalb County and have been putting off repairs you can’t afford to make, this program was built with you in mind. Follow DeKalb County and Decide DeKalb on LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube for updates as the program moves toward launch.

Questions can be directed to [email protected].