Rule has had negative impact on affordable housing
An affordable housing rule which was introduced by the HUD three years ago is the subject of a new consultation by the housing department.
The Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing regulations was intended to provide HUD program participants with a revised planning approach to assist them in meeting their legal obligation to affirmatively further fair housing.
But an assessment of the rules found that it was in fact “ineffective, highly prescriptive, and effectively discouraged the production of affordable housing.”
That led to the suspension of the requirements for local governments to file plans under the rule and to use a computer assessment tool which the HUD now says was “confusing, difficult to use, contained errors, and frequently produced unacceptable assessments, and otherwise required an unsustainable level of technical assistance.”
"It's ironic that the current AFFH rule, which was designed to expand affordable housing choices, is actually suffocating investment in some of our most distressed neighborhoods that need our investment the most," said HUD Secretary Ben Carson. "We do not have to abandon communities in need. Instead we believe we can craft a new, fairer rule that creates choices for quality housing across all communities."
He added that the consultation begins the formal process of getting the rules right based on the experience of those who put them into practice and live with their impact.
