ATLANTA — A new bill under the Gold Dome aims to address the growing presence of corporate landlords in Georgia’s housing market.

Analysts estimate that a third of all single-family homes for rent in metro Atlanta are owned by a handful of large investment companies.

The legislation, sponsored by Forsyth County Republican Sen. Greg Dolezal, would limit any one investment company to owning no more than 500 single-family rental homes at a time.

“We’re trying to ensure that American homes are for American families, not Wall Street hedge funds,” Dolezal said.

Dolezal said the measure is intended to address concerns about large institutional investors competing with individual homebuyers.

“The reason that we’re doing this is we believe that these institutional funds are putting single family home purchasers, the American family, at a disadvantage from being able to have to compete against Blackstone and other mega institutional funds,” he said.

The bill would not require current investors who own more than 500 homes to sell those properties.

The measure also bars foreign ownership of rental property.

Opponents say the legislation limits the free market by restricting who homeowners can sell their properties to.

The bill has cleared committee and now awaits a vote in the full Senate.

WSB Radio’s Jonathan O’Brien contributed to this story.