To stem the loss of critically needed public and other
forms of subsidized housing due to the severe backlog of capital needs,
the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today
officially launched its
Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), the Obama Administration's groundbreaking strategy to preserve tens of thousands of public and HUD-assisted housing units.
In the near term, RAD is expected to preserve and enhance more
than 278 units of affordable housing in Austin, Fort Worth, and McKinney
and generate private capital to address the significant backlog in
capital needs faced by public housing authorities in the U.S. This
additional capital will also stimulate employment in the construction
trades across the country. Nationally, RAD is expected to benefit more
than 13,000 units of affordable housing and generate more than $650
million in private capital.
"This innovative and cost-effective approach greatly enhances our
ability to confront the decline of our public housing and older
assisted housing stock," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "With the
initial implementation of RAD, the Obama Administration has begun to
demonstrate that public-private partnership can help preserve our
nation's affordable housing and create jobs in the process."
"HUD and our local partners are working to protect critically
needed affordable housing for the residents in these communities," said
Acting Regional Administrator Mark Brezina. "This is a market-based
approach to helping local housing authorities tap into private capital
to preserve housing for some of our most vulnerable citizens."
HUD awarded commitments to the Austin Housing Authority, the Fort
Worth Housing Authority, and the McKinney Housing Authority, allowing
them to seek private financing to rehabilitate 278 units that are
otherwise at risk of being lost from the affordable housing inventory.
RAD allows public housing agencies and private owners of certain
at-risk, federally assisted properties to convert their current
assistance to long-term Section 8 contracts. Such contracts will allow
owners to leverage millions of dollars in debt and equity to better
address immediate capital needs and preserve these affordable housing
units. In addition, participating agencies are freed from antiquated
public housing rules and restrictions that hindered their ability to
best preserve and manage their housing similar to other affordable
housing owners and managers.
In 2011, HUD released Capital Needs in the Public Housing Program,
a study that found the nation's 1.2 million public housing units need
nearly $26 billion to keep these homes in safe and decent condition for
families, a figure well in excess of the roughly $2 billion Congress
appropriates for capital repairs annually. Beyond the potential loss of
this public housing, the Moderate Rehabilitation, Rent Supplement, and
older Rental Assistance Payment (RAP) programs are at risk of being lost
from the affordable housing stock.
RAD is part of the Obama Administration's comprehensive strategy
to preserve public and HUD-assisted housing. In November 2011, Congress
authorized HUD to implement RAD as a budget-neutral demonstration
program with two components, allowing for the conversion of assistance
for both public housing and HUD-assisted properties that have expiring
subsidies.