B: Affordable Housing
Promote decent affordable housing Other Information:
Overview: Promoting decent affordable housing is a central part of HUD’s mission. To this end, HUD seeks to expand access
to, availability, and quality of affordable rental housing, improve the management accountability of public and assisted housing,
improve housing opportunities for the elderly and persons with disabilities, and promote housing self-sufficiency. An estimated
5.18 million very low-income renters had worst-case needs for rental assistance in 2003.Most of these severe needs consisted
solely of severe rent burdens: rents exceeding half of household incomes. In most metropolitan areas, a high demand for housing
means that the market does not yield monthly rents reasonable for families with modest incomes. While recognizing the primacy
of the private market, there is clearly a role for the federal government in addressing the challenges of housing affordability
in America. Current policies provide a multi-faceted federal approach that directs resources in a measured and targeted manner
to meet priority housing needs, and proposed reforms will strengthen these efforts. HUD offers direct rental assistance primarily
through its Section 8 program, while also increasing the production of affordable units though public housing development,
HOME, and other grant programs that support housing construction and rehabilitation. Through its FHA mortgage insurance programs,
the Department facilitates the development of affordable rental housing and helps insure that the financial markets provide
adequate funding for affordable housing, as well as long-term, low cost financing for preservation of privately owned subsidized
housing. The Department’s efforts are complemented by federal tax credits that stimulate rental housing construction and rehabilitation,
as well as by other federal programs serving specific populations, such as veterans and the rural poor. This Strategic Plan
spans a transition phase for public and assisted housing programs. In recent years, HUD has strengthened these programs by
demolishing obsolete public housing, changing the voucher program from a unit-based to a dollar based system, and expanding
opportunities for tenants to transition from rental housing to homeownership. Under this plan, HUD will continue to reform
and improve the public housing and voucher programs, as public housing agencies convert to asset-based management and implement
proposed legislative reforms. These reforms are needed because success in meeting the nation’s affordable housing needs cannot
be achieved without devolving decision-making authority to the state and local level. No one is in a better position to address
a community’s specific affordable housing concerns than the community leaders themselves. The proposed reforms would increase
local discretion, enabling PHAs to improve efficiency and maximize the number of families receiving assistance. In addition,
HUD grant programs provide local grantees with significant levels of flexibility to use funds in a way that best meets their
communities’ needs. Performance Measures: • Expand affordable rental housing by 1.346 million units through the Low-Income
Housing Tax Credit, CDBG, HOME, HOPWA, and IHBG funds, by FY 2011. • Increase the proportion of FHA Multifamily insurance
used with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits from the baseline level of 24 percent of endorsements used with LIHTC. • The total
number of remaining years of affordability provided for low-income households residing in units produced from the investment
of HOME funds will be 1.15 million years by FY 2011, up from 980,000 currently. • The number of HOME production units completed
(includes rental units produced, new homebuyers, and existing homeowners assisted) will be 243,000 by FY 2011. • HOPE VI projects
will complete all unit production within an average period of 7 years from execution of the grant agreement, and by 2011,
all HOPE VI grants from 1993 to 2004 will have completed all unit production. • The HOPE VI program will leverage a projected
total of $4 billion in private sector financing between 2006 and 2011.• The Capital Fund Financing program will leverage a
projected total of $315 million in private financing for public housing projects between 2006 and 2011. • Implement the Public
Housing Energy Efficiency program to control energy consumption in public housing properties and, by FY 2008, develop a baseline
and specify annual percentage reduction in energy consumption to be achieved in public housing by FY 2011. • The share of
public housing units that meet HUD-established physical standards will increase from 85.1 percent to 87.5 percent by 2011.
• Unoccupied units in public housing that are not HUD-approved vacancies decline by 5 percent by2011. • Reduce the number
of Exigent Health and Safety deficiencies per property by 10 percent annually among PHAs that are designated as troubled by
PHAS and have 5 or more deficiencies per property. • Revamp the Section 8 Management Assessment Program and create a more
efficient and accurate assessment tool for the Housing Choice Voucher program by 2008. • The share of assisted and insured
privately owned multifamily properties that meet HUD established physical standards will be maintained at no less than 95
percent, and substandard properties will continue to improve. • Reform the Section 202 and 811 programs to further improve
the efficiency and outcomes for each program. o For Section 202 program, increase the admission of frail elderly and make
facilities and service improvements so that residents can “age in place.” o For the Section 811 program, increase the housing
inventory and accomplish more rapid development of these projects. • The percentage of HOPWA clients who maintain housing
stability, avoid homelessness, and access care each year will be sustained at 80 percent for 2008 through 2011. • Increase
the number of Neighborhood Networks Centers and maintain the existing Neighborhood Networks Centers in multifamily housing
developments and public housing. • Between FY 2006 and FY 2011, the number of families counseled in homeownership readiness
by PHAs through the ROSS program will increase by 830 to 4,148, and the number of counseled families who purchase homes will
increase by 75 to 372. • Implement property-based funding, accounting and monitoring for public housing: o By 2007, 20 percent
of all PHAs will have acceptable asset-based accounting systems in place. o By 2008, 50 percent of all PHAs will have acceptable
asset-based accounting systems in place. o By 2008, 10 percent of all PHAs will have substantially converted to asset-based
management. o By 2009, 90 percent of all PHAs will have acceptable asset-based accounting systems in place. o By 2009, 25
percent of all PHAs will have substantially converted to asset-based management. o By 2010, 50 percent of all PHAs will have
substantially converted to asset-based management. o By 2011, all PHAs will have converted to asset-based management and accounting.
Objective(s):
|
