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Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
Mission
Overview
In 1965, the United States Congress established the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as an Executive, Cabinet-level agency, to:
- Foster the orderly growth and development of the nation's urban areas;
- Coordinate Federal activities affecting housing and urban development;
- Provide technical assistance and information to aid state, county, town, or other local governments in developing solutions to community and metropolitan development problems;
- Encourage effective regional cooperation in the planning and conduct of community and metropolitan development programs and projects;
- Encourage and develop the fullest cooperation with private enterprise in achieving the objectives of the Department; and
- Conduct continuing comprehensive studies, and make available findings, with respect to the problems of housing and urban development
The Department accomplishes its mission through component organizations and offices that administer various programs, which are carried out through a network of regional offices and smaller field offices, as well as through grantees, contractors, and other business partners.
HUD program areas include:
- The Office of Housing -- Federal Housing Administration (Housing/FHA)
- The Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae)
- The Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH)
- The Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD)
- The Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO)
- The Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes (OLHCHH)
- The Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships (CFBNP)
In addition to these program organizations, HUD has a number of key support organizations. One of these support organizations plays a unique role in the formulation of policy and program design -- the Office of Policy Development and Research. This Office is responsible for maintaining current information on housing needs, market conditions, and existing programs, as well as conducting research on priority housing and community development issues. The Office also provides objective program evaluation, data, and analysis to inform policy decisions and improve program results.
The FY 2010 establishment of three new offices within the Office of the Deputy Secretary -- the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities, the Office of Strategic Planning and Management, and the Office of the Chief Operating Officer -- will help guide fundamental changes throughout the Department that will promote a greater focus on the nation's needs and better results in our key areas. The Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities manages HUD's relationships with other Cabinet agencies and provides communities with the support they need to ensure housing, transportation, energy, and "green" building investments are working together to build strong neighborhoods. The Office of Strategic Planning and Management facilitates and manages HUD's strategic planning and performance measurement process and oversees HUD's FY 2009 Recovery Act programs with $13.6 billion in funding. HUD's new Office of the Chief Operating Officer will provide leadership and a comprehensive strategy for HUD's operations, including procurement, human resources, and information technology with direct oversight from the Deputy Secretary.
HUD develops a 5-year strategic plan, as well as an annual performance plan and annual report on our progress. As part of developing the 2011 Budget and performance plan, HUD has also identified a limited number of high priority performance goals that are a focus from 2010 through mid 2012. These goals are a subset of those used to regularly monitor and report performance. To view the full set of performance information please visit:http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/cfo/reports/cforept
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Strategic Goals & Objectives
Agencies establish a variety of organizational goals to drive progress toward key outcomes for the American people. Long-term strategic goals articulate clear statements of what the agency wants to achieve to advance its mission and address relevant national problems, needs, challenges and opportunities. Strategic objectives define the outcome or management impact the agency is trying to achieve, and also include the agency's role. Each strategic objective is tracked through a suite of performance goals, indicators and other evidence. Click here for more information on stakeholder engagement during goal development.
Strategic Goal:
Strengthen the Nation's Housing Market to Bolster the Economy and Protect Consumers
Statement:
Strengthen the Nation's Housing Market to Bolster the Economy and Protect Consumers
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Promote a sustainable housing finance system that provides support during market disruptions, with a properly defined role for the US government.
Description:
HUD will continue to work with other agencies, Congress, and stakeholder groups to promote a sustainable housing system. In doing so, HUD aims to minimize taxpayer risk by fostering private capital as a primary source of liquidity, and focus government participation while allowing it to maintain its counter-cyclical role. The right solution will ensure continued access to home ownership and multifamily investment opportunities for creditworthy borrowers while avoiding the problem of private gains and public losses.
Statement:
Promote access to sustainable housing financing and achieve a more balanced housing market, particularly in under-served communities.
Description:
Creditworthy borrowers continue to have difficulty accessing affordable mortgage financing. Homeowners with seriously delinquent and underwater loans find it difficult to sell or refinance their homes. For home-buyers, tight underwriting standards (some FHA lenders impose additional requirements above those required by FHA) and high down payment requirements make it difficult to obtain a loan. These challenges have disproportionately affected first-time, minority, and low-to-moderate income home-buyers and homeowners. HUD will work to ensure that these under-served groups have the ability to access financing.
Statement:
Continue to strengthen the Federal Housing Administration’s financial health, while supporting the housing market recovery and access to mortgage financing.
Description:
A strong Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is critical to the recovery of the housing market and our economy at large. The mortgage insurance provided by FHA has made financing available to individuals and families not adequately served by the conventional private mortgage market. The Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund (MMIF) is the largest fund covering activities of FHA. The recession put substantial strain on the MMIF as private capital retreated and FHA played a counter-cyclical role to support the broader housing market. Over time, FHA has experienced significant swings in its market share as it has stepped in to provide insured loans for qualified borrowers who would otherwise be shut out of the mortgage market.
In addition, the severe decline in house prices, the sluggish performance of the economy, and the behavior of some lending partners resulted in increased FHA losses that drove its capital reserve ratio below the congressionally-mandated two percent level.
Strategic Goal:
Meet the Need for Quality, Affordable Rental Homes
Statement:
Meet the Need for Quality Affordable Rental Homes
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Ensure sustainable investments in affordable rental housing.
Description:
The number of renter households with worst case needs – those with very low-incomes[1] that do not receive government assistance and either pay more than half their income on rent or live in severely inadequate conditions – decreased to 7.7 million in 2013 from the record high of 8.5 million in 2011, ending a sustained period of large increases. The Worst Case Housing Needs 2015 Report to Congress[2] study details the continued, substantial unmet needs for affordable rental housing even as economic conditions improve. As the rental market continues to tighten, it is critical to increase the level of private investment into affordable housing. Currently, for every two very low-income households that receive rental assistance, more than three very low-income households have worst case housing needs.
[1] Very low income renters have a household income of 50 percent or less of the area median income, with adjustments for household size.
[2] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2015 (April); Worst Case Housing Needs 2015: Report to Congress.
Statement:
Preserve the long-term availability of quality affordable rental housing, where it is needed most, through HUD’s many rental housing programs.
Description:
During the past 80 years, the federal government has invested billions of dollars in the development and maintenance of affordable public and assisted multifamily housing. Despite the sizable investment and the great demand for such housing, assisted units continue to be lost. Some units have been lost because of their deteriorated physical condition. Others, both publically and privately owned, have been removed from the affordable inventory because of owners’ decisions or because periods of affordability have expired. Some multifamily housing programs either have no option for owners to renew their subsidy contracts with HUD or do not support contract renewal on terms that attract sufficient capital to preserve long-term affordability. Moreover, the public housing stock faces an estimated $26 billion capital needs backlog that will be difficult to meet given federal fiscal constraints.
Rather than view these trends as an obstacle, HUD is taking advantage of the opportunity to update its housing stock and transition to funding strategies with more long-term viability. All the while, HUD remains committed to providing other decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable options for low-income renters through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), tax credits, Choice Neighborhoods, mixed financed public housing development, and other creative programs.
RAD makes it possible for public housing authorities to address capital repair and replacement needs of their properties, preserving these affordable rental units. RAD allows public housing authorities and owners of Moderate Rehabilitation, Rent Supplement, and Rental Assistance Payment developments to convert to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts so they can access private funding sources.
Priority Goal: Preserve affordable rental housing.
Statement:
HUD remains committed to preserving and expanding the nation's current affordable housing stock. Between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2017, HUD aims to preserve and expand affordable rental housing through its rental housing programs to serve an additional 134,516 households over a baseline of 5,547,563 households*.
*This baseline is up from the previously reported 5,541,541. HUD experiences many data reporting lags, often impacting previously reported data. HUD is committed to providing the most accurate count it can, and therefore strives to update historic totals whenever better data becomes available.
Description:
During the past 80 years, the federal government has invested billions of dollars in the development and maintenance of affordable public and assisted multifamily housing. Despite the sizable investment and the great demand for such housing, assisted units continue to be lost. Some units have been lost because of their deteriorated physical condition. Others, both publicly and privately owned, have been removed from the affordable inventory because of owners’ decisions or because periods of affordability have expired. Some multifamily housing programs either have no option for owners to renew their subsidy contracts with HUD or do not support contract renewal on terms that attract sufficient capital to preserve long-term affordability. Moreover, the public housing stock faces an estimated $26 billion capital needs backlog that will be difficult to meet given federal fiscal constraints.[1]
Rather than view these trends as an obstacle, HUD is taking advantage of the opportunity to update its housing stock and transition to funding strategies with more long-term viability. All the while, HUD remains committed to providing other decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable options for low-income renters through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), tax credits, Choice Neighborhoods, mixed financed public housing development, and other creative programs.
RAD makes it possible for public housing authorities to address capital repair and replacement needs of their properties, preserving these affordable rental units. RAD allows public housing authorities and owners of Moderate Rehabilitation, Rent Supplement, and Rental Assistance Payment developments to convert to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts so they can access private funding sources.
[1] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2010 (Nov.); Capital Needs in the Public Housing Program, http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=PH_Capital_Needs.pdf
Priority Goal: Rental Alignment
Statement:
Between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2015, HUD aims to preserve and expand affordable rental housing through its rental housing programs to serve an additional 121,000 households.
Description:
During the past 75 years, the federal government has invested billions of dollars in the development and maintenance of affordable publicly- and privately-owned rental housing. Despite this sizable investment, the supply of affordable housing units has not kept up with demand. Some units have been lost because of their deteriorated physical condition; others have been removed from the affordable inventory because of owners’ decisions or because periods of affordability have expired. Some Multifamily Housing programs that subsidized private owners of affordable rental housing either have no option for owners to renew their subsidy contracts with HUD or cannot be renewed on terms that attract sufficient capital to preserve long-term affordability. Moreover, the public housing stock faces an estimated $26 billion capital needs backlog, which will be difficult to meet, given federal fiscal constraints.
To enable public housing agencies to address the immediate and longer-term needs of their properties, HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) allows public housing agencies and owners of Moderate Rehabilitation, Rent Supplement, and Rental Assistance Payment developments to convert to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts, thereby allowing access to private funding sources.
Preservation of an expanded range of HUD-assisted properties will be facilitated by the establishment of a Recapitalization Office that will provide a one-stop shop for owners to handle a variety of complicated preservation transactions. Moreover, HUD’s participation in the White House Rental Policy Working Group has spurred improvements in rental housing across agencies, particularly in the area of unit physical inspections and HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center’s role.
Priority Goals
Statement:
Between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2015, HUD aims to preserve and expand affordable rental housing through its rental housing programs to serve an additional 121,000 households.
Description:
During the past 75 years, the federal government has invested billions of dollars in the development and maintenance of affordable publicly- and privately-owned rental housing. Despite this sizable investment, the supply of affordable housing units has not kept up with demand. Some units have been lost because of their deteriorated physical condition; others have been removed from the affordable inventory because of owners’ decisions or because periods of affordability have expired. Some Multifamily Housing programs that subsidized private owners of affordable rental housing either have no option for owners to renew their subsidy contracts with HUD or cannot be renewed on terms that attract sufficient capital to preserve long-term affordability. Moreover, the public housing stock faces an estimated $26 billion capital needs backlog, which will be difficult to meet, given federal fiscal constraints.
To enable public housing agencies to address the immediate and longer-term needs of their properties, HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) allows public housing agencies and owners of Moderate Rehabilitation, Rent Supplement, and Rental Assistance Payment developments to convert to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts, thereby allowing access to private funding sources.
Preservation of an expanded range of HUD-assisted properties will be facilitated by the establishment of a Recapitalization Office that will provide a one-stop shop for owners to handle a variety of complicated preservation transactions. Moreover, HUD’s participation in the White House Rental Policy Working Group has spurred improvements in rental housing across agencies, particularly in the area of unit physical inspections and HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center’s role.
Strategic Goal:
Use Housing as a Platform to Improve Quality of Life
Statement:
Use Housing as a Platform to Improve Quality of Life
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
End homelessness for veterans, people experiencing chronic homelessness, families, youth, and children.
Description:
HUD’s annual “Point-in-Time” estimates measure the scope of homelessness on a single night in January of each year. Based on data reported by more than 3,000 cities and counties, the January 2013 one-night estimate reveals a 24-percent drop in homelessness among veterans and a 16-percent reduction among individuals experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness since 2010. HUD’s estimate also found the largest decline in the number of persons in families experiencing homelessness since the Department began measuring homelessness in a standard manner in 2005. Overall, a total of 610,042 people experienced homelessness in the United States on a single night in January 2013.
Homelessness among unaccompanied youth is a hidden problem, which HUD and its partners are taking steps to solve. Some subpopulations of youth are at particularly high risk for homelessness, including youth aging out of foster care and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning youth.
In 2010, the Obama Administration released Opening Doors*, the first ever comprehensive federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. The goals of the plan are to prevent and end veterans’ and chronic homelessness by 2015, to prevent and end homelessness for families, youth, and children by 2020, and to set a path to ending all types of homelessness. HUD remains committed to the goals of Opening Doors, but to reach them the pace of current efforts must accelerate. Over the next 5 years, HUD will work with its partners to deploy the solutions that we know are effective for the right persons, such as rapid rehousing and permanent supportive housing. These tools must be informed by a Housing First approach, whereby preconditions and barriers to housing entry are removed and people move into housing as quickly as possible.
*United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, Opening Doors: Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness (June 2010).
Priority Goal: End Veterans homelessness
Statement:
In partnership, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) aim to reduce the number of Veterans living on the streets, experiencing homelessness to zero (as measured by the 2016 Point-in-Time count).
Description:
This goal represents HUD’s effort to reduce homelessness among Veterans. Veterans are overrepresented in the homeless population; while only 9.3 percent of the U.S. adult population has Veteran status, Veterans represented approximately 11.3 percent of homeless adults at a given point in time in 2014. On a single night in January 2014, there were 49,933 Veterans reported as experiencing homelessness. Veterans experiencing homelessness often face the same issues that lead others into homelessness, including a lack of affordable housing and inadequate income and savings. Service men and women returning from active duty may also have specific challenges, such as lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse, which can make it more difficult for them to find and maintain adequate employment and, consequently, to pay for housing.
Effectively transitioning Veterans experiencing homelessness to permanent housing requires access to healthcare, employment, and benefits. Because Veterans have greater medical and mental health needs than non-Veterans, healthcare and its associated benefits play a significant role in achieving and maintaining stability in permanent housing for Veterans experiencing homelessness. Employment and VA benefits are critical in providing Veterans the income required to support housing and other daily living expenses.
HUD and VA continue to implement proven systems of service delivery to end Veteran homelessness, especially among those experiencing chronic homelessness, such as the Housing First approach. Housing First offers individuals and families experiencing homelessness immediate access to permanent affordable or supportive housing. Reducing clinical and economic barriers, Housing First yields higher housing retention rates, lower returns to homelessness, and significant reductions in the use of crisis service and institutions.
Statement:
Promote advancements in economic prosperity for residents of HUD-assisted housing.
Description:
Residents of HUD-assisted housing often face challenges such as lack of employable skills and low educational attainment levels that limit their ability to become economically self-sufficient and rise out of poverty. The Department recognizes that, while some families and individuals will need assistance for longer periods, others are capable, with assistance, of rising out of poverty. A majority of adults receiving rental assistance who are able to work have some income from wages; however, they are most often in the lowest paying jobs. Further, increasing workplace demands for technical expertise require attention to education and training for both adults and youth, including digital literacy. HUD will utilize its housing platform to expand access to employment and educational services. HUD seeks to significantly increase the economic opportunities available to low-income residents in neighborhoods where it invests, particularly through the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program and Section 3.
Statement:
Promote the health and housing stability of vulnerable populations.
Description:
Many residents of HUD-assisted housing face health-related challenges, especially elderly people, people with disabilities, homeless people, and those individuals and families at risk of becoming homeless. New studies of the health status of HUD residents show that they have higher rates of chronic health conditions and higher utilization of hospitals and emergency rooms than peer comparison groups. Some may have a criminal record, a history of homelessness, be making the transition out of military service back into civilian life, or be transitioning out of healthcare treatment settings.
In 2013, one out of every six Americans did not have health insurance. Hardworking families in HUD housing may not get insurance from their employers, and they may not make enough money to afford a plan for their family. Without health insurance, families risk forgoing necessary preventive care or facing economic catastrophe from a major illness.
In January 2014, many more affordable insurance options became available through the new health insurance marketplaces, including, in those states that have opted in, an expansion of Medicaid. When residents of HUD-assisted housing also have health insurance, they gain an additional stepping stone to better health and financial security. This makes for healthier, stronger households and communities.
The Affordable Care Act can help as many as 40 million currently uninsured Americans find greater peace of mind and financial stability that will help them work toward their own goals and dreams. Access to health insurance is important, but so too is access to health care. As the healthcare system develops new tools to provide better care at a lower cost, new partnerships are needed between housing and the healthcare system.
Additionally, work led by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) and HHS related to enforcement of and compliance with the Supreme Court’s Olmstead decision reinforces the rights of individuals with disabilities to live, work, and receive services in the greater community in the most integrated setting appropriate to their needs. As a result of Olmstead, there is a significant need for affordable, integrated housing opportunities where individuals with disabilities are able to live and interact with individuals without disabilities. Achieving this goal requires an increase in the supply of integrated housing options so that individuals have meaningful choice in where they live, including housing without services and supportive housing with access to voluntary services.
HUD also helps protect the health of residents of assisted multifamily and public housing from both direct and environmental (that is, second- and third-hand) tobacco smoke exposure by encouraging owners of assisted housing and PHAs to issue and implement smoke-free policies and by providing outreach and technical support. The Department will enhance those efforts to help reduce the extent of this public health problem among residents of its housing portfolio.
Priority Goals
Statement:
In partnership, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) aim to reduce the number of Veterans living on the streets, experiencing homelessness to zero (as measured by the 2016 Point-in-Time count).
Description:
This goal represents HUD’s effort to reduce homelessness among Veterans. Veterans are overrepresented in the homeless population; while only 9.3 percent of the U.S. adult population has Veteran status, Veterans represented approximately 11.3 percent of homeless adults at a given point in time in 2014. On a single night in January 2014, there were 49,933 Veterans reported as experiencing homelessness. Veterans experiencing homelessness often face the same issues that lead others into homelessness, including a lack of affordable housing and inadequate income and savings. Service men and women returning from active duty may also have specific challenges, such as lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse, which can make it more difficult for them to find and maintain adequate employment and, consequently, to pay for housing.
Effectively transitioning Veterans experiencing homelessness to permanent housing requires access to healthcare, employment, and benefits. Because Veterans have greater medical and mental health needs than non-Veterans, healthcare and its associated benefits play a significant role in achieving and maintaining stability in permanent housing for Veterans experiencing homelessness. Employment and VA benefits are critical in providing Veterans the income required to support housing and other daily living expenses.
HUD and VA continue to implement proven systems of service delivery to end Veteran homelessness, especially among those experiencing chronic homelessness, such as the Housing First approach. Housing First offers individuals and families experiencing homelessness immediate access to permanent affordable or supportive housing. Reducing clinical and economic barriers, Housing First yields higher housing retention rates, lower returns to homelessness, and significant reductions in the use of crisis service and institutions.
Strategic Goal:
Build Strong, Resilient, and Inclusive Communities
Statement:
Build Strong, Resilient, and Inclusive Communities
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Reduce housing discrimination, affirmatively further fair housing through HUD programs, and foster inclusive communities free from discrimination.
Description:
One of America’s fundamental ideals is that hard work and determination will open the doors to opportunity. However, for too long and for too many people, access to opportunity is still not within reach. Americans all want the same basic things for their families: a safe, affordable place to call home, a quality education for our kids, and access to transportation, jobs, retail, and services. Despite genuine progress and a landscape of communities transformed in the more than 40 years since the Fair Housing Act was enacted, the ZIP code in which a child grows up, all too often, remains a strong predictor of that child’s success. To this end, HUD seeks to significantly increase the number of housing providers, lenders, members of the real estate community, and others that fully comply with the Fair Housing Act and other applicable fair housing and civil rights laws and do not discriminate on any basis prohibited by those laws and regulations. While housing discrimination still takes on blatant forms in some instances, it has become more subtle through the years, resulting in under¬reporting and complicating effective enforcement.
In addition to enforcement, HUD works proactively to make access to important neighborhood assets measurably fairer in neighborhoods where HUD invests, and to ensure that policies and practices are in place to provide equal access to persons with disabilities.
Statement:
Increase the health and safety of homes and embed comprehensive energy efficiency and healthy housing criteria across HUD programs.
Description:
HUD has committed to creating energy efficient, green, and healthy housing as part of a broader effort to foster the development of inclusive, sustainable communities. The residential sector is responsible for fully 21 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions. With approximately 5.5 million housing units assisted through its rental assistance programs, HUD’s share of this total is significant. HUD spends an estimated $6.4 billion annually on utilities (both water and energy) in the form of allowances for tenant-paid utilities, direct operating grants for public housing, and housing assistance payments for privately-owned assisted housing. Utility costs account for around 22 percent of public housing operating budgets, and a similar share in the assisted housing sector.
Reducing these rising costs—generating savings for residents and owners, as well as for taxpayers—is a key HUD priority. Significant progress has been made over the past five years with energy retrofits, healthy housing interventions, or new energy projects completed in more than 510,000 housing units.
In FY 2016-17, HUD will continue or expand energy investments in the residential sector to support the goals of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to cut energy waste in half by 2030 and accelerate clean energy leadership—both in HUD-assisted housing, as well as in market-rate housing. We will reduce barriers to financing energy efficiency as well as on-site renewable energy generation, help unlock innovative and traditional sources of capital, and strengthen codes and standards that promote energy efficiency and healthy housing.
The need to retrofit HUD-assisted housing is not limited to the efforts to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs. Housing is also an important determinant of health, and poor housing conditions are associated with a wide range of health conditions, including respiratory infections, asthma, lead poisoning, and injuries. HUD makes homes healthy and safe through several programs, led by the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes’ (OLHCHH) lead hazard control grant programs and Lead Safe Housing Rule (LSHR) compliance. OLHCHH also educates the general public about healthy homes through a public communications campaign to help people connect the dots between their health and their home.
The production of lead-safe housing units will continue to depend strongly on the level of funding for the lead hazard control grant programs and the rehabilitation programs that make required lead hazard reduction measures in assisted housing covered by the LSHR. With funding for OLHCHH grant activities projected to be approximately level through FY 2016, and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) experiencing significant funding reductions in recent years, the number of pre-1978 housing units made lead-safe in 2016 is expected to decrease.
Priority Goal: Increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation's housing stock.
Statement:
HUD is committed to increasing the health and safety of homes and embed comprehensive energy efficiency and healthy housing criteria across HUD programs. Since fiscal year 2010, HUD has completed over 510,000 green or healthy units. Between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2017, HUD aims to increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation’s housing stock by enabling an additional 160,000 cost-effective energy efficient or healthy housing units.
Description:
HUD has committed to creating energy efficient, green, and healthy housing as part of a broader effort to foster the development of inclusive, sustainable communities. The residential sector is responsible for fully 21 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.[1] With approximately 5.6 million housing units assisted through its rental assistance programs, HUD’s share of this total is significant. HUD spends an estimated $6.4 billion annually on utilities (both water and energy) in the form of allowances for tenant-paid utilities, direct operating grants for public housing, and housing assistance payments for privately-owned assisted housing. Utility costs account for around 22 percent of public housing operating budgets, and a similar share in the assisted housing sector.
Reducing these rising costs—generating savings for residents and owners, as well as for taxpayers—is a key HUD priority. Significant progress has been made over the past five years with energy retrofits, healthy housing interventions, or new energy projects completed in more than 510,000 housing units.
In FY 2016-17, HUD will continue or expand energy investments in the residential sector to support the goals of the President’s Climate Action Plan to cut energy waste in half by 2030 and accelerate clean energy leadership—both in HUD-assisted housing, as well as in market-rate housing. We will reduce barriers to financing energy efficiency as well as on-site renewable energy generation, help unlock innovative and traditional sources of capital, and strengthen codes and standards that promote energy efficiency and healthy housing.
The need to retrofit HUD-assisted housing is not limited to the efforts to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs. Housing is also an important determinant of health, and poor housing conditions are associated with a wide range of health conditions, including respiratory infections, asthma, lead poisoning, and injuries. HUD makes homes healthy and safe through several programs, led by the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes’ (OLHCHH) lead hazard control grant programs and Lead Safe Housing Rule (LSHR) compliance. OLHCHH also educates the general public about healthy homes through a public communications campaign to help people connect the dots between their health and their home.
The production of lead-safe housing units will continue to depend strongly on the level of funding for the lead hazard control grant programs and the rehabilitation programs that make required lead hazard reduction measures in assisted housing covered by the LSHR. With funding for OLHCHH grant activities projected to be approximately level through FY 2016, and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) experiencing significant funding reductions in recent years, the number of pre-1978 housing units made lead-safe in 2016 is expected to decrease.
[1] Department of Energy, 2011 Building Energy Data Book, Table 2.4.1.
Priority Goal: Increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation's housing stock.
Statement:
Between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2015, HUD aims to increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation’s housing stock by enabling 160,000 cost-effective energy efficient or healthy housing units.
Description:
HUD has committed to creating energy efficient, green, and healthy housing as part of a broader effort to foster the development of inclusive, sustainable communities. The residential sector is responsible for fully 21 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.[1] HUD spends an estimated $6.4 billion annually on utilities (both water and energy) in the form of allowances for tenant-paid utilities, direct operating grants for public housing, and housing assistance payments for privately-owned assisted housing. Utility costs account for around 22 percent of public housing operating budgets, and a similar share in the assisted housing sector.
Reducing these rising costs—generating savings for residents and owners, as well as for taxpayers—is a key HUD priority. Housing is also an important determinant of health, and poor housing conditions are associated with a wide range of health conditions, including respiratory infections, asthma, lead poisoning, injuries, and other housing-related health hazards. Significant progress has been made over the past five years with completed energy retrofits, healthy housing interventions, or new energy projects in more than 460,000 housing units.
From 2014–2018, HUD aims to continue to focus on energy and health investments in the residential sector, both in HUD-assisted housing, as well as in market-rate housing, to support the goals of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to cut energy waste in half by 2030 and accelerate clean energy leadership. We will reduce barriers to financing energy efficiency as well as on-site renewable energy, help unlock innovative and traditional sources of capital, and raise the bar on codes and standards that promote energy efficiency and healthy housing.
The production of lead-safe housing units will continue to depend strongly on the level of funding for the lead hazard control grant programs and the rehabilitation programs that make require lead hazard reduction measures in housing being assisted. With funding for Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes grant activities projected to be approximately level through FY 2015, and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Program (HOME) experiencing significant reductions in recent years, the number of pre-1978 housing units made lead-safe in 2015 and 2016 is expected to decrease.
[1] EPA 2013
Statement:
Support the recovery of communities from disasters by promoting community resilience, developing state and local capacity, and ensuring a coordinated federal response that reduces risk and produces a more resilient built environment.
Description:
Helping to increase communities’ resilience is integral to national disaster preparedness and the mission of HUD. This effort is consistent with the goals and objectives of Presidential Policy Directive / PPD-8 (National Preparedness) and Executive Order 13653 (Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change). Over the next five years, HUD will continue to support and expand programs and initiatives designed to increase and enhance pre-planning, research, infrastructure investment, partnerships, and cross-cutting coordination related to disaster response, recovery, and resilience. This work will involve the combined efforts of HUD’s program offices and federal, state, local, and private sector partners and will incorporate HUD’s civil rights, energy, environment, and diversity goals and responsibilities.
Priority Goals
Statement:
Between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2015, HUD aims to increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation’s housing stock by enabling 160,000 cost-effective energy efficient or healthy housing units.
Description:
HUD has committed to creating energy efficient, green, and healthy housing as part of a broader effort to foster the development of inclusive, sustainable communities. The residential sector is responsible for fully 21 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.[1] HUD spends an estimated $6.4 billion annually on utilities (both water and energy) in the form of allowances for tenant-paid utilities, direct operating grants for public housing, and housing assistance payments for privately-owned assisted housing. Utility costs account for around 22 percent of public housing operating budgets, and a similar share in the assisted housing sector.
Reducing these rising costs—generating savings for residents and owners, as well as for taxpayers—is a key HUD priority. Housing is also an important determinant of health, and poor housing conditions are associated with a wide range of health conditions, including respiratory infections, asthma, lead poisoning, injuries, and other housing-related health hazards. Significant progress has been made over the past five years with completed energy retrofits, healthy housing interventions, or new energy projects in more than 460,000 housing units.
From 2014–2018, HUD aims to continue to focus on energy and health investments in the residential sector, both in HUD-assisted housing, as well as in market-rate housing, to support the goals of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to cut energy waste in half by 2030 and accelerate clean energy leadership. We will reduce barriers to financing energy efficiency as well as on-site renewable energy, help unlock innovative and traditional sources of capital, and raise the bar on codes and standards that promote energy efficiency and healthy housing.
The production of lead-safe housing units will continue to depend strongly on the level of funding for the lead hazard control grant programs and the rehabilitation programs that make require lead hazard reduction measures in housing being assisted. With funding for Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes grant activities projected to be approximately level through FY 2015, and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Program (HOME) experiencing significant reductions in recent years, the number of pre-1978 housing units made lead-safe in 2015 and 2016 is expected to decrease.
[1] EPA 2013
Strategic Goal:
Achieving Operational Excellence
Statement:
Achieve operational excellence by improving planning, processes, accountability, and transparency; and also by developing and using customer feedback mechanisms
Strategic Objectives
Statement:
Improve HUD’s acquisitions performance through early collaborative planning and enhanced utilization of acquisition tools.
Description:
The Office of the Chief Procurement Officer (OCPO) is responsible for all HUD procurement and
procurement-related activities. The acquisition process can be lengthy, partially due to necessary compliance with statutes, policies and procedures. OCPO sees an opportunity to streamline the acquisition process and increase customer satisfaction by mapping out the process and identifying and removing non-value added steps.
In this challenging economic environment, OCPO also seeks to maximize the value of every taxpayer dollar and ensure opportunities for small businesses. To accomplish this, OCPO is committed to using internal and external acquisition vehicles specifically established to leverage HUD’s and the government’s buying power, maximize opportunities for small business, and increase the successful outcomes of acquisitions.
Statement:
Reduce the time and complexity of the clearance process by establishing and enforcing clear protocols for drafting and reviewing documents placed in departmental clearance.
Description:
For some significant policy documents, submission of the document for departmental clearance is the first time that key HUD policy and support offices and HUD’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) review such documents. The absence of involvement of key HUD offices can result in a lengthy clearance process if major disagreements exist. There are also less significant policy documents that only need abbreviated review which go through the full clearance process unnecessarily.
To address these challenges, HUD will establish guidelines for development of significant policy
documents that include a preclearance process and protocols for clearance of these documents. HUD will also establish guidelines that will institute a significant reduction or no clearance of routine or less significant policy documents.
Statement:
Increase accuracy, speed, transparency, and accountability in financial management and budgeting for the agency.
Description:
HUD's current core accounting systems have been a source of audit findings for many years. The systems have limited functionality and are difficult to maintain properly, which increases the risk of failure. Moreover, the current budget process has limited transparency and not all staff are trained on the appropriate budget formulation procedures. Further, HUD’s internal control processes need to be improved by addressing these significant deficiencies and material weaknesses.
The Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) plans to improve internal controls on financial
management by reducing significant deficiencies and eliminating material weaknesses across the department. HUD will also improve the reliability of the financial accounting systems. HUD will also modify the budget formulation processes and procedures in order to increase transparency.
Statement:
Make the grants management process more efficient and effective by automating and streamlining processes, improving timeliness, and tracking performance.
Description:
HUD’s management and oversight of grants can be more effective and efficient at a number of points over the grant life-cycle. This is the result of a number of conditions: decentralized responsibilities and unclear authorities, a lack of policy and process standardization across program offices, the existence of a multitude of grant-related IT systems for identical or similar tasks, the lack of a centralized performance reporting system, and minimal, centralized oversight of program operations.
To address these challenges, HUD will: develop a centralized, one-stop performance reporting capability for agency grants; standardize and strengthen oversight of grant -related policies and processes; improve programmatic oversight of grant programs for compliance and performance; and align and optimize grant-related IT systems agency wide.
Statement:
Employ, develop, and foster a collaborative, high-performing workforce that is capable of continuing to deliver HUD’s mission in a changing and uncertain future.
Description:
We will employ, develop, and foster a collaborative, values-driven, and capable workforce by focusing our efforts on: 1) promoting greater leadership effectiveness, 2) enhancing employee engagement, and 3) addressing performance results.
The Department will face a number of challenges and changes in the years ahead, as we continue to address the housing recovery during a period of fiscal constraints. Changes in housing markets and communities around the nation are speeding up, just as natural disasters and the need for rebuilding communities across America is also increasing. Meanwhile, it is estimated that 57% of HUD’s workforce will be eligible to retire by 2015. To accomplish our mission in the years ahead, we must capture the wisdom and knowledge of our current and departing technical experts and leaders and transmit it to their successors. In that regard, we must value and utilize more effectively the contributions of all our employees as vital members of our workforce and help them fulfill their professional development and career needs.
By improving leadership effectiveness, investing in employee engagement, and addressing performance challenges, we will build a more collaborative workforce, demonstrate our core values, and grow our capabilities. By fulfilling our roles as a trusted strategic partner, a human capital compliance expert, and a transactions facilitator for HUD’s employees, we can ensure that HUD’s workforce is ready to achieve its mission of creating sustainable, inclusive communities and quality, affordable homes for all.
Statement:
Make high-quality data available to those who need it, when they need it, where they need it, to support decision-making in furtherance of HUD's mission.
Description:
HUD data can be unreliable, inaccessible, and redundant, with new systems or datasets created to address faulty data rather than fixing the original data source. Moreover, HUD has historically had a fragmented approach to technology adoption, which leads to multiple platforms and multiple services competing for resources. Finally and similarly, HUD has not achieved the right balance of contracting support and in-house expertise to manage the agency’s data and systems effectively and affordably.
Over the next four years, HUD aims to leverage these opportunities by enhancing the quality, availability, and delivery of HUD information to citizens, employees, business partners, and the government, while striving for excellence in IT management practices and governance to consolidate and streamline HUD’s systems. In pairing enhanced technology and improved processes with a developing and strengthening workforce, the department expects to vastly broaden its ability to achieve current and future departmental goals.
Statement:
Reduce the cost of leased space, utilities, travel and other related costs by adapting our business processes.
Description:
Even despite recent advances in programs such as telework and alternative work schedules, HUD has historically operated with a traditional definition of the workplace. This objective intends to help HUD redefine the workplace as more than just an office, but rather the combination of people and information brought together by technology which allows work to be done at any appropriate location.
In order to measure our success in this endeavor, HUD intends to reduce the amount of space per employee and contractor. Ultimately, this will reduce the total dollars that we spend on leased space, building maintenance, utilities, travel, and other related costs. In order to achieve these efficiencies, HUD will work with the General Services Administration to identify opportunities to reduce space through better use of technology and expanded use of external resources and partnerships.
Additionally, HUD could better meet our customers’ needs by more appropriately distributing our workload and personnel by organizational unit. HUD will assess its current staff allocation, workload distribution and community needs in order to align resources to better serve our customers. In this effort, our goal is not to save money at the expense of our customers, but rather to replace outdated business practices with new business models, ultimately producing greater efficiencies, saving money, establishing sustainable business models, and most importantly better serving our customers.
Statement:
Promote a diverse and inclusive work environment that is free of discrimination and harassment by educating the workforce on the overall Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) process and their EEO responsibilities as managers and employees of HUD.
Description:
The Office of Departmental Equal Employment Opportunity (ODEEO) is responsible for ensuring the enforcement of federal laws relating to the elimination of all forms of discrimination in the Department's employment practices and to ensure equal employment opportunity (EEO), promote inclusiveness, and foster a culture that values diversity and empowers the HUD workforce. Additionally, ODEEO is responsible for leading the Department’s efforts to proactively prevent unlawful discrimination. ODEEO also seeks to foster an agency culture in which disputes are resolved at the lowest possible level and before a formal complaint is filed.
Currently, all managers and employees have not been trained on the overall EEO process and their EEO responsibilities. ODEEO seeks to offer training to the HUD workforce on the EEO process and the responsibilities of the workforce regarding Equal Employment Opportunity, as well as serving as a resource to the program office leadership by providing direction, guidance, and monitoring of key activities to ensure the successful implementation of the principles of EEO throughout the Department.
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FY16-17 Agency Priority Goals
An Agency Priority Goal is a near-term result or achievement that agency leadership wants to accomplish within approximately 24 months that relies predominantly on agency implementation as opposed to budget or legislative accomplishments. Click below to see this agency's FY16-17 Priority Goals.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
HUD remains committed to preserving and expanding the nation's current affordable housing stock. Between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2017, HUD aims to preserve and expand affordable rental housing through its rental housing programs to serve an additional 134,516 households over a baseline of 5,547,563 households*.
*This baseline is up from the previously reported 5,541,541. HUD experiences many data reporting lags, often impacting previously reported data. HUD is committed to providing the most accurate count it can, and therefore strives to update historic totals whenever better data becomes available.
Description:
During the past 80 years, the federal government has invested billions of dollars in the development and maintenance of affordable public and assisted multifamily housing. Despite the sizable investment and the great demand for such housing, assisted units continue to be lost. Some units have been lost because of their deteriorated physical condition. Others, both publicly and privately owned, have been removed from the affordable inventory because of owners’ decisions or because periods of affordability have expired. Some multifamily housing programs either have no option for owners to renew their subsidy contracts with HUD or do not support contract renewal on terms that attract sufficient capital to preserve long-term affordability. Moreover, the public housing stock faces an estimated $26 billion capital needs backlog that will be difficult to meet given federal fiscal constraints.[1]
Rather than view these trends as an obstacle, HUD is taking advantage of the opportunity to update its housing stock and transition to funding strategies with more long-term viability. All the while, HUD remains committed to providing other decent, safe, sanitary, and affordable options for low-income renters through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), tax credits, Choice Neighborhoods, mixed financed public housing development, and other creative programs.
RAD makes it possible for public housing authorities to address capital repair and replacement needs of their properties, preserving these affordable rental units. RAD allows public housing authorities and owners of Moderate Rehabilitation, Rent Supplement, and Rental Assistance Payment developments to convert to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts so they can access private funding sources.
[1] U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2010 (Nov.); Capital Needs in the Public Housing Program, http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/documents/huddoc?id=PH_Capital_Needs.pdf
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
In partnership with other agencies, the Department of Housing and Urban Development will reduce the total number of homeless families, youth and children, and people experiencing chronic homelessness, as well as keep the number of veterans living on the street at zero (as measured by the 2018 Point-in-Time count).
Description:
The annual “Point-in-Time” (PIT) count estimates the scope of homelessness on a single night in January. Based on data reported by more than 3,000 cities and counties, the January 2016 one-night estimate reveals a 47 percent drop in homelessness among veterans and a 27 percent reduction among individuals experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness since the 2010 release of Opening Doors. HUD's estimate also found a decline of 23 percent in the number of families experiencing homelessness since 2010. Overall, a total of 549,928 people experienced homelessness in the United States on a single night in January 2016.
In 2010, the Obama administration released Opening Doors, the first-ever comprehensive federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. The plan set the stage for HUD’s goals of preventing and ending homelessness for veterans by 2015; preventing and ending homelessness for individuals experiencing chronic homelessness by 2017; preventing and ending homelessness for families, youth, and children by 2020; and ultimately setting a path to ending all types of homelessness.
HUD continues its longstanding work with the US Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) and all its other federal, state, and local partners to deploy effective solutions, such as rapid re-housing, permanent supportive housing, and housing vouchers for the populations for which they are proven effective. These tools should be informed by a Housing First approach, in which preconditions and barriers to housing entry are removed and people move into housing as quickly as possible. HUD and its partners are taking concerted steps to understand the best strategies to prevent and end homelessness among unaccompanied youth, especially for high-risk groups, including youth aging out of foster care and LGBTQ youth. HUD’s success in reducing homelessness depends on effectively using and targeting resources. However, continued investments in programs that work, such as HUD’s Homeless Assistance Grants, are crucial to reaching the goals laid out in Opening Doors.
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Agency Priority Goal:
Increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation's housing stock.
Statement:
HUD is committed to increasing the health and safety of homes and embed comprehensive energy efficiency and healthy housing criteria across HUD programs. Since fiscal year 2010, HUD has completed over 510,000 green or healthy units. Between October 1, 2015 and September 30, 2017, HUD aims to increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation’s housing stock by enabling an additional 160,000 cost-effective energy efficient or healthy housing units.
Description:
HUD has committed to creating energy efficient, green, and healthy housing as part of a broader effort to foster the development of inclusive, sustainable communities. The residential sector is responsible for fully 21 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.[1] With approximately 5.6 million housing units assisted through its rental assistance programs, HUD’s share of this total is significant. HUD spends an estimated $6.4 billion annually on utilities (both water and energy) in the form of allowances for tenant-paid utilities, direct operating grants for public housing, and housing assistance payments for privately-owned assisted housing. Utility costs account for around 22 percent of public housing operating budgets, and a similar share in the assisted housing sector.
Reducing these rising costs—generating savings for residents and owners, as well as for taxpayers—is a key HUD priority. Significant progress has been made over the past five years with energy retrofits, healthy housing interventions, or new energy projects completed in more than 510,000 housing units.
In FY 2016-17, HUD will continue or expand energy investments in the residential sector to support the goals of the President’s Climate Action Plan to cut energy waste in half by 2030 and accelerate clean energy leadership—both in HUD-assisted housing, as well as in market-rate housing. We will reduce barriers to financing energy efficiency as well as on-site renewable energy generation, help unlock innovative and traditional sources of capital, and strengthen codes and standards that promote energy efficiency and healthy housing.
The need to retrofit HUD-assisted housing is not limited to the efforts to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs. Housing is also an important determinant of health, and poor housing conditions are associated with a wide range of health conditions, including respiratory infections, asthma, lead poisoning, and injuries. HUD makes homes healthy and safe through several programs, led by the Office of Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes’ (OLHCHH) lead hazard control grant programs and Lead Safe Housing Rule (LSHR) compliance. OLHCHH also educates the general public about healthy homes through a public communications campaign to help people connect the dots between their health and their home.
The production of lead-safe housing units will continue to depend strongly on the level of funding for the lead hazard control grant programs and the rehabilitation programs that make required lead hazard reduction measures in assisted housing covered by the LSHR. With funding for OLHCHH grant activities projected to be approximately level through FY 2016, and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Partnership Program (HOME) experiencing significant funding reductions in recent years, the number of pre-1978 housing units made lead-safe in 2016 is expected to decrease.
[1] Department of Energy, 2011 Building Energy Data Book, Table 2.4.1.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Increase educational attainment for HUD-assisted tenants by improving access to stable, quality, and affordable education, as measured by increasing the percentage of HUD-assisted tenants who are currently enrolled in college.
Description:
The persistent and growing education gap between children of low-income families and higher-income families demands further attention to the agency’s role in supporting the educational attainment of our residents. Improving access to stable, quality, and equitable education for HUD-assisted children is crucial to increasing employment opportunities and breaking the cycle of intergenerational poverty. Recent research on HUD’s Moving to Opportunity experiment confirmed that place matters for children's educational attainment and access to opportunity, now and in the future.[1] HUD is exploring options to increase the use of housing vouchers in high opportunity areas, through mobility counseling and the Small Area Fair Market Rent (SAFMR) demonstration.
The department is equally committed to investing in communities where low-income and rent-assisted residents are concentrated. The Choice Neighborhood and Promise Zone programs were developed with an understanding that these long-term revitalization efforts require community-driven solutions and cross-sector involvement to holistically increase opportunity and outcomes for residents. HUD is working with the Department of Education on several initiatives from increasing access to early childhood education to improving access to financial assistance and tax credits that make college more affordable. Through the alignment of resources at the local level, we can most effectively improve the quality of life for the children and families HUD serves.
[1] Chetty, Raj, et al. Is the United States still a land of opportunity? Recent trends in intergenerational mobility. No. w19844. National Bureau of Economic Research, 2014.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Narrow the digital divide by ensuring that 50 percent of public housing households with school-age children in ConnectHome communities are connected with at-home high-speed internet by September 30, 2017.
Description:
ConnectHome is a demonstration program aimed at narrowing the digital divide in 28 communities across the nation. It offers a platform for collaboration among the federal government, local governments, public housing agencies, Internet service providers, philanthropic foundations, nonprofit organizations, and other stakeholders to develop and implement local solutions. Through ConnectHome, many HUD-assisted residents have access to free or substantially discounted high-speed Internet access in their homes, as well as the resources and training they need to take advantage of this access. The program is particularly focused on narrowing the “homework gap” by enabling school-age children to access the Internet at home.
Expand All
FY14-15 Agency Priority Goals
An Agency Priority Goal is a near-term result or achievement that agency leadership wants to accomplish within approximately 24 months that relies predominantly on agency implementation as opposed to budget or legislative accomplishments. Click below to see this agency's FY14-15 Priority Goals.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
Between October 1, 2013, and September 30, 2015, HUD aims to preserve and expand affordable rental housing through its rental housing programs to serve an additional 121,000 households.
Description:
During the past 75 years, the federal government has invested billions of dollars in the development and maintenance of affordable publicly- and privately-owned rental housing. Despite this sizable investment, the supply of affordable housing units has not kept up with demand. Some units have been lost because of their deteriorated physical condition; others have been removed from the affordable inventory because of owners’ decisions or because periods of affordability have expired. Some Multifamily Housing programs that subsidized private owners of affordable rental housing either have no option for owners to renew their subsidy contracts with HUD or cannot be renewed on terms that attract sufficient capital to preserve long-term affordability. Moreover, the public housing stock faces an estimated $26 billion capital needs backlog, which will be difficult to meet, given federal fiscal constraints.
To enable public housing agencies to address the immediate and longer-term needs of their properties, HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) allows public housing agencies and owners of Moderate Rehabilitation, Rent Supplement, and Rental Assistance Payment developments to convert to long-term Section 8 rental assistance contracts, thereby allowing access to private funding sources.
Preservation of an expanded range of HUD-assisted properties will be facilitated by the establishment of a Recapitalization Office that will provide a one-stop shop for owners to handle a variety of complicated preservation transactions. Moreover, HUD’s participation in the White House Rental Policy Working Group has spurred improvements in rental housing across agencies, particularly in the area of unit physical inspections and HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center’s role.
Agency Priority Goal:
Statement:
In partnership, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) aim to reduce the number of Veterans living on the streets, experiencing homelessness to zero (as measured by the 2016 Point-in-Time count).
Description:
This goal represents HUD’s effort to reduce homelessness among Veterans. Veterans are overrepresented in the homeless population; while only 9.3 percent of the U.S. adult population has Veteran status, Veterans represented approximately 11.3 percent of homeless adults at a given point in time in 2014. On a single night in January 2014, there were 49,933 Veterans reported as experiencing homelessness. Veterans experiencing homelessness often face the same issues that lead others into homelessness, including a lack of affordable housing and inadequate income and savings. Service men and women returning from active duty may also have specific challenges, such as lingering effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance abuse, which can make it more difficult for them to find and maintain adequate employment and, consequently, to pay for housing.
Effectively transitioning Veterans experiencing homelessness to permanent housing requires access to healthcare, employment, and benefits. Because Veterans have greater medical and mental health needs than non-Veterans, healthcare and its associated benefits play a significant role in achieving and maintaining stability in permanent housing for Veterans experiencing homelessness. Employment and VA benefits are critical in providing Veterans the income required to support housing and other daily living expenses.
HUD and VA continue to implement proven systems of service delivery to end Veteran homelessness, especially among those experiencing chronic homelessness, such as the Housing First approach. Housing First offers individuals and families experiencing homelessness immediate access to permanent affordable or supportive housing. Reducing clinical and economic barriers, Housing First yields higher housing retention rates, lower returns to homelessness, and significant reductions in the use of crisis service and institutions.
Agency Priority Goal:
Increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation's housing stock.
Statement:
Between October 1, 2013 and September 30, 2015, HUD aims to increase the energy efficiency and health of the nation’s housing stock by enabling 160,000 cost-effective energy efficient or healthy housing units.
Description:
HUD has committed to creating energy efficient, green, and healthy housing as part of a broader effort to foster the development of inclusive, sustainable communities. The residential sector is responsible for fully 21 percent of the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions.[1] HUD spends an estimated $6.4 billion annually on utilities (both water and energy) in the form of allowances for tenant-paid utilities, direct operating grants for public housing, and housing assistance payments for privately-owned assisted housing. Utility costs account for around 22 percent of public housing operating budgets, and a similar share in the assisted housing sector.
Reducing these rising costs—generating savings for residents and owners, as well as for taxpayers—is a key HUD priority. Housing is also an important determinant of health, and poor housing conditions are associated with a wide range of health conditions, including respiratory infections, asthma, lead poisoning, injuries, and other housing-related health hazards. Significant progress has been made over the past five years with completed energy retrofits, healthy housing interventions, or new energy projects in more than 460,000 housing units.
From 2014–2018, HUD aims to continue to focus on energy and health investments in the residential sector, both in HUD-assisted housing, as well as in market-rate housing, to support the goals of President Obama’s Climate Action Plan to cut energy waste in half by 2030 and accelerate clean energy leadership. We will reduce barriers to financing energy efficiency as well as on-site renewable energy, help unlock innovative and traditional sources of capital, and raise the bar on codes and standards that promote energy efficiency and healthy housing.
The production of lead-safe housing units will continue to depend strongly on the level of funding for the lead hazard control grant programs and the rehabilitation programs that make require lead hazard reduction measures in housing being assisted. With funding for Lead Hazard Control and Healthy Homes grant activities projected to be approximately level through FY 2015, and the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) and Home Investment Program (HOME) experiencing significant reductions in recent years, the number of pre-1978 housing units made lead-safe in 2015 and 2016 is expected to decrease.
[1] EPA 2013
