Public Housing

HUD recently released Notice PIH 2020-23 outlining the eligible uses of Section 18 Disposition or Section 22 Voluntary Conversion funds Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) gain from the sale, transfer, ground lease or disposition of their properties.

In a recent issue of Health Affairs focusing on investments in social determinants of health, a new study examined how renovations of a property in Queens, NY that converted through RAD may improve the health of public housing residents.

HUD released the full report, “Examining the Effects of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) on Children Living in Public Housing in Fresno, California,” which assessed outcomes and the well-being of children living in developments that have undergone rehab and conversion under RAD.

On June 7, 2020 the House Appropriations Committee released its draft fiscal year 2021 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies funding bill. The measure was adopted by the Subcommittee on July 8, 2020.  The measure heads next to the Full Committee for an additional markup.  The bill provides a total of $50.6 billion […]

The House of Representatives passed the Emergency Housing Protections and Relief Act of 2020 (H.R. 7301) to provide relief for homeowners, renters, landlords and people experiencing homelessness amidst the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The provisions of this bill were largely included in the HEROES Act as passed by the House in May, which has yet to be voted on in the Senate.

HUD recently published a notice of annual factors for determining public housing agencies (PHAs) administrative fees for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, Mainstream and Moderate Rehabilitation programs for calendar year 2020. The adjustment factors back date to January 1, 2020.

NH&RA sent a letter to HUD calling for guidance to PHAs on the distribution distributing of relief funds to mixed-finance properties as well as traditional public housing properties.

HUD announced the allocation of $380 million in supplemental administrative fee funding to all Public Housing Authorities (PHAs). HUD also allocated an additional $1 billion through its Community Development Block Grant.

HUD published a final rule that allows public housing authorities (PHAs) and owners to conduct full income recertifications for families with 90 percent or more of their income from fixed-income every three years instead of annually. The final rule is effective as of June 8, 2020.

HUD released the median family incomes and income limits for Fiscal Year (FY) 2020. Median incomes are used as the basis for income limits in several HUD programs, including the Public Housing, Section 8 Housing Choice and Project-Based Voucher, Section 202 housing for the elderly and Section 811 housing for persons with disabilities programs.

In response to COVID-19, HUD is providing a number of statutory and regulatory waivers to PHAs, Native American tribes and tribally designated housing entities. PIH 2020-05 temporarily suspends the issuance of new PHAS and SEMAP scores and details a number of available waivers on topics, including income verifications, housing inspections, amendments to the ACOP and Administrative Plan and other reporting requirements.

HUD has posted new training videos on Asset Repositioning that outline the HUD tools available to Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to transition their inventories to the Section 8 platform and illustrates through a fully developed case study how those tools can be used in combination.

The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) recently aired its new documentary, East Lake Meadows: A Public Housing Story. Stories from East Lake Meadow residents in Atlanta reveal hardship and resilience, and raise critical questions about race, poverty and who is deserving of public assistance.