This year, Secretary Marcia L. Fudge led the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to bold action in pursuit of the agency’s mission to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes. These actions aligned with key Biden-Harris Administration priorities, including easing the burden of housing costs, removing barriers to homeownership, expanding the nation’s housing supply, addressing the nation’s homelessness crisis, and keeping Americans housed.
Below is a sampling of the strides HUD made in 2022:
Expanded Access to Affordable Housing and Connected People to Rental Assistance by:
- Keeping more than one million struggling homeowners in their homes through the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) home retention options.
- Distributing more than 100,000 housing vouchers to allow very low-income families to choose and lease safe, decent, and affordable privately-owned rental housing.
- Providing legal assistance to low-income tenants at-risk of or subject to eviction by doubling funding for the Eviction Protection Grant Program (EPGP).
- Investing a historic $1 billion for housing in Tribal communities through the Indian Housing Block Grant program, the Indian Housing Block Grant Competitive program, and the Native Hawaiian Housing Block Grant program.
Increased Housing Supply Through Building, Preservation, and Innovation by:
- Approving HOME-American Rescue Plan allocation plans that will build 10,000 new deeply affordable and supportive housing units and fund services or rental assistance to serve an additional 13,000 people experiencing or at-risk of homelessness.
- Resolving the backlog of applications submitted for FHA insurance on multifamily mortgages and insuring nearly 160,000 rental units at multifamily properties in fiscal year 2022.
- Preserving existing affordable housing through a continuing $15 billion investments in construction through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), more than $430 million in Mixed Finance development deals and $183 million in grants through the choice neighborhood grants, to 1,300 new mixed-income housing units, starting construction on another 5,600 units, leveraging over $1.13 billion dollars in additional funding, and supporting community investments such as two grocery stores, business façade improvements, home owner-rehab, and placemaking amenities.
- Improving the quality and safety of the country’s housing stock by proposing the largest set of changes to the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards in over two decades and resuming housing inspections which had been on pause due to the pandemic.
- Hosting the Innovative Housing Showcase on the National Mall, featuring an array of innovative housing prototypes, from modern construction processes like factory building and 3-D printing to energy-efficient materials like low-carbon concrete and insulated panels.
Boosted Wealth-Building and Home Ownership Opportunities for All by:
- Changing FHA’s underwriting policies to allow lenders to use positive rental history in evaluating applicants’ creditworthiness for an FHA-insured mortgage – making it easier for first-time homebuyers to qualify.
- Expanding access to housing counseling so consumers can seek assistance from more than 1,500 HUD-approved housing counseling agencies and the 4,000 HUD-certified housing counselors. Updates to search functionality allows consumers to easily obtain valuable advice on topics such as buying a home, financial planning, foreclosure avoidance, and housing stability.
- Helping low-income renters achieve financial wellbeing by promoting employment opportunities and money management education through a $113 million investment to expand the Family Self-Sufficiency (FSS) program.
- Selecting a cohort of 18 Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to try new approaches to encourage the growth of savings accounts and credit building HUD-assisted households as an expansion of the Moving to Work (MTW) Demonstration Program.
- Launching PAVE, an interagency taskforce committed to rooting out racial and ethnic bias in home valuations.
Ensured Communities Can Prepare for and Recovery from Disaster Equitably by:
- Improving internal and interagency coordination on disaster response and recovery.
- Working with the Government of Puerto Rico to invest in modernization and resiliency of local infrastructure.
- Taking bold action to reduce the HUD’s energy and carbon footprint while putting our nation’s communities on the path towards a more equitable, efficient, and sustainable housing infrastructure.
- Educating communities on the context of historic inequity in communities exacerbated by disasters and discrimination in the provision of disaster recovery resources, especially for our nation’s most vulnerable people through release of the Citizen Participation and Equitable Engagement (CPEE) Toolkit.
- Releasing over $5 billion in Community Development Block Grants for Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) to support recovery from weather related disasters in 2022 and launched first of its kind public input to more equitably and accurately allocate disaster recovery funds.
- Issued the inaugural $6.8 million allocation of Rapid Unsheltered Survivor Housing (RUSH) funding to communities impacted by Hurricane Ian. The RUSH assistance supports those experiencing or at risk of homelessness in the aftermath of a disaster.
- Allowing residents of assisted housing to access community solar subscriptions, which sets the stage for 4.5 million families to save without increasing housing costs for residents.
- Encouraging green building and design through reduced mortgage insurance premiums and recognizing the “green status” of these loans to investors.
Address Homelessness with the Urgency it Requires by:
- Supporting implementation of American Rescue Plan programs, like Emergency Rental Assistance and the enhanced Child Tax Credit, that prevented families from housing loss and homelessness.
- Reduced Veteran homelessness by 11 percent since 2020, the largest decline in Veteran homelessness in more than 5 years.
- Organizing leaders from 105 communities across 31 states and territories and the District of Columbia to join House America. Collectively through House America, HUD and its partners are on track to achieve our collective goals to re-house 100,000 people and added 20,000 units of affordable housing to the pipeline.
- Making $322 million in grants and 4,000 Stability Vouchers available in a first-of-its-kind package of resources to address unsheltered homelessness and homeless encampments, including funds set aside specifically to address homelessness in rural communities. HUD will award these funds in early 2023.
- Expanding the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program by awarding $84 million to an additional 17 communities to create youth-led coordinated systems for ending youth homelessness.
Made HUD Easier to Navigate So Our Help Reaches Those Who Need It Most by:
- Taking the bold step of revising the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) template to reflect Secretary Fudge’s commitment to advancing racial equity.
- Launching a first-of-its-kind guide for state, local, and Tribal officials detailing HUD programs, resources, and tools available to support, preserve, and produce affordable homes and to develop thriving neighborhoods where families can enjoy economic security.
- Announcing the formation of the Tribal Intergovernmental Advisory Committee (TIAC), bringing together senior HUD officials and Tribal Leaders to ensure the needs of Tribes are being met in how HUD programs and designed and implemented.
- Assisted state and communities through the HHS-HUD Housing and Services Resource Center to support community living among people with disabilities and older adults by coordinating housing assistance and home-based supportive services.