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The Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University recently released its annual State of the Nation’s Housing Report. The latest report reveals that 11.4 million households paid more than half their incomes for housing in 2014. This is the first time the United States has seen so many residents paying such a large portion of their income on rent. The number of cost-burdened renters, who pay more than 30 percent of their i...

In an effort to extend affordable Internet access to children and families living in federally assisted housing, HUD recently proposed a rule to require the installation of broadband infrastructure into most HUD-financed multifamily housing developments during their construction or substantial rehabilitation. The rule is entitled, “Narrowing the Digital Divide Through Installation of Broadband Infrastructure in HUD-Funded New Con...

HUD recently announced that it’s making $2 million available to support research to develop and improve methods for the identification and control of key residential health hazards. Key hazards include issues such as pest infestation, poor indoor air quality, injury prevention, mold and excess moisture, and lead in drinking water. It’s especially important to protect vulnerable populations, such as children, seniors, and pe...

HUD recently announced that it’s making $37.3 million available to fight housing discrimination under HUD's 2016 Fair Housing Initiatives Program (FHIP) Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA). This year's three funding notices support a variety of important fair housing activities, including fair housing testing in the rental and sales market, public education efforts, capacity building, and education and outreach activiti...

On April 17, after touring a public housing development in New York City, Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Democratic presidential candidate, released his plan to address the affordable housing crisis in America. In describing the problem, Sanders says, “decent and affordable rental apartments are hard to come by, and millions of households are spending 50 percent or more of their income on housing. According to the National Low In...

Thirty-nine local public housing agencies across the country will continue to enjoy significantly greater flexibility to operate their federally funded housing programs following HUD’s recent announcement. Existing agreements under HUD’s Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration Program for 39 public housing authorities (PHAs) will now continue in effect until 2028.

Cox Communications recently announced a major investment in its efforts to narrow the digital divide through its support of HUD’s ConnectHome initiative. Cox Communications is extending its Connect2Compete low-cost Internet offering to any HUD-assisted household with school-age children within Cox’s 18-state service area. 

On March 3, Senators Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Bob Menendez (D-NJ), and Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Mike Quigley (D-IL) introduced the “Lead-Safe Housing for Kids Act of 2016” (S. 2631/H.R. 4694) in the Senate and House respectively. The bills would protect children living in federally assisted housing from lead poisoning.

On March 10, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register extending the comment period regarding over-income residents in public housing.  HUD is seeking input on whether public housing agencies should be required to terminate public housing assistance and evict families with incomes that “significantly” exceed income limits for a “sustained” period of time.

HUD recently published the draft Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) Tool for States and Insular Areas and accompanying Federal Register Notice. The tool is intended to guide states through the AFH process required under HUD’s Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) regulation. AFFH requires all entities that receive HUD funding from HOME, Community Development Block Grants, Emergency Solutions Grants, and Housing Opportunities...