NMA Blog

What we're reading now: The latest housing reports and analysis

More on the proposed public charge rule: CBPP blog post, NHLP fact sheet, analysis from the National Association of Counties, and resources from the Protecting Immigrant Families Campaign

Affordable Housing Finance: LIHTC properties fare well during Hurricane Florence

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Voucher non-discrimination laws may boost acceptance

What we're reading now: The latest housing reports and analysis

The Atlantic: Elizabeth Warren's ambitious fix for America's housing crisis

Brookings: It's a dark time for renters

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities: Renters' incomes still lagging behind housing costs

Center for Community Progress: Building equitable communities takes systems reform

Center for Study of Social Policy: Comment period begins today for public charge rule

CityLab: Why affordable housing isn't more affordable

National Association of Counties: Congress approves major disaster reform bill

National League of Cities: Cities leading on fair housing

National Low Income Housing Coalition: Congress passes stopgap funding for HUD

New York Times: Along the Carolinas coast, entire neighborhoods remain submerged

Shelterforce: 30 years of reporting on the state of the nation's housing

Urban Institute: Rural communities need more affordable rental housing

Urban Land: 2 developers share their path to transformational projects

Today in the Federal Register, HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) published an advance notice of proposed rulemaking seeking public comment on amendments to HUD’s affirmatively furthering fair housing (AFFH) regulations. As we reported on Monday, HUD issued a press release regarding the publication of this notice requesting comments with the goal to offer more helpful guidance to states and local communities to effectively promote fair housing choice. While public comment is not limited to the following, HUD is particularly interested in comments centering on these questions:

• What type of community participation and consultation should program participants undertake in fulfilling their AFFH obligations?
• How should the rule weigh the costs and benefits of data collection and analysis?
• How should PHAs report their AFFH plans and progress?
• Should the proposed rule specify the types of obstacles to fair housing that program participants must address as part of their AFFH efforts, or should program participants be able to determine the number and types of obstacles to address?
• How much deference should jurisdictions be provided in establishing objectives to address obstacles to identified fair housing goals, and associated metrics and milestones for measuring progress?

Comments are due by October 15, 2018. Further details, including background on the rule’s review and how to submit comments, can be found in the notice.

In a related blog post today, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) explained how HUD’s proposed changes to the AFFH rule are inconsistent with research on the effect of neighborhoods on the well-being of children and adults.

Also today on the HUD channel at YouTube, HUD posted a video on the basics of the Fair Housing Act. The nearly 90-minute training video includes detailed explanations of the protections provided by the act and discusses the continued relevance of the law.

Today in the Federal Register, HUD’s Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) published a notice on the allocations, common application, waivers, and alternative requirements for funds allocated to address unmet needs from disasters that occurred in 2017. This $10.03 billion allocation supplements the $7.4 billion in Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funds previously granted in February. The funds are part of the $28 billion allocated on April 10, 2018 under the Further Additional Supplemental appropriations for Disaster Relief Requirements Act, 2018. Specifically, the notice allocates the additional funding to Texas, Florida, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, and covers the following:

• Allocations
• Use of funds
• Overview of the grant process
• Duration of funding
• Catalog of federal domestic assistance
• Finding of “no significant impact”

The notice also contains an appendix detailing the methodology used in the allocation of CDBG-DR funds to the most impacted and distressed areas due to 2017 federally declared disasters. Further details can be found in the notice.

In a press release this week, HUD announced that it is approving a disaster recovery plan to help the U.S. Virgin Islands recover from Hurricanes Irma and Maria. The action plan is funded through the Community Development Block Grant–Disaster Recovery (CDBG–DR) program, where HUD allocated $243 million in November 2017. As part of the action plan, various programs have been designed to address unmet needs that the U.S. Virgin Islands have identified in housing, infrastructure, and economic development recovery. More about these programs can be found in the press release. HUD also notes that for the additional $1.621 billion in CDBG–DR funding it allocated to the U.S. Virgin Islands back in April for similar purposes, HUD will be shortly issuing requirements governing those funds, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, along with other states allocated CDBG–DR funds, will be required to submit plans addressing the use of those funds as well.

HUD recently issued a press release to announce that it has approved a $616 million disaster recovery plan to help Florida recover from Hurricane Irma. The grant is through the Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) program and will support the repair of damaged homes, businesses, and critical infrastructure in the state. In April, HUD allocated an additional $791 million of CDBG-DR funding to Florida for unmet need, infrastructure and mitigation purposes.

HUD also announced that it has approved a $5 billion disaster recovery plan to help Texas recover from Hurricane Harvey. The CDBG-DR funds will support long-term recovery efforts. An additional $4.726 billion was allocated in April for unmet need, infrastructure and mitigation purposes.