HUD's Plan to Improve Public Housing

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has recently given $1.8 billion to public housing authorities that will allow these agencies to improve their public housing units. This will have an effect on all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. These grants are supplied through HUD's Capital Fund Program which annually provides funds for public housing communities to be able to build, repair, renovate and upgrade features such as roofs, plumbing and electrical systems to enhance efficiency.

HUD's budget for 2012 will ultimately help to preserve and enhance America's affordable housing, which includes public housing. They have been given the go-ahead by Congress to test a comprehensive demonstration tool to begin this preservation process. As part of President Obama's plan to keep HUD homes more affordable, HUD will initiate a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program. Public housing authorities say that they will need $26 billion in order to keep these homes safe for its inhabitants.

RAD will enable public housing authorities to continue improving and modernizing homes. This is expected to ready more than 60,0000 properties for long term rental assistance contracts. In turn, public housing authorities will then be able to raise around $6 billion in private financing to reduce the amount of capital repair needs to the homes.

Capital repair needs are defined as large-scale improvements required to make housing decent and economically sustainable, and ultimately more energy efficient. According to a study that HUD performed last year regarding Capital Needs in Public Housing, they found that of the nation's 1.2 million public housing units, it would take approximately $25.6 billion to make these much-needed capital repairs. This also includes overdue repairs such as accessibility improvements for the disabled, and water and energy conservation to make the homes more cost effective.

Many families rely on public housing in order to afford a home. Sadly, the nation loses thousands of units every year because of disrepair. Obama proposed RAD as a way to keep these homes maintained and available for rent. The federal government has invested billions in these units and keeping these in working order is fundamental for the overall housing market's stability. HUD will be announcing in the coming months the final details on RAD's timeline and application.

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