WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released its 2018 Year in Review outlining the major accomplishments of the agency under Secretary Ben Carson.
“Over the past year, the Trump Administration has continued to deliver on its promise to create greater economic opportunity for low-income families and encourage reinvestment in underserved communities,” Secretary Carson said. “HUD is advancing its mission by providing sustainable homeownership opportunities, removing barriers to revitalization and affordable housing, and helping communities impacted by natural disasters rebuild, among other efforts. I look forward to continue building on the successes of the past year and opening more pathways to self-sufficiency for HUD-assisted families.”
HUD’s achievements in 2018 include:
- Spurring Reinvestment in Communities
- HUD preserved affordable housing options by converting over 100,000 public housing units through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, which has generated close to $6 billion in construction investment.
- The Administration established the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, covering 13 federal agencies and led by Secretary Carson, which will work to prioritize Opportunity Zones in a variety of federal efforts, including grant funding, loan guarantees, infrastructure spending and crime prevention.
- Advancing Economic Opportunity
- HUD’s Federal Housing Administration (FHA) served nearly 669,000 mostly first and low- to moderate-income, single-family homebuyers through home loans; supported the production and preservation of 121,600 multifamily units; and provided $2.45 billion in insurance for hospital and residential care facilities.
- Ginnie Mae served 1.86 million households by attracting global capital to the nation’s housing market through its mortgage-backed security (MBS) in conjunction with the government’s lending programs, such as the FHA and Veterans Affairs (VA).
- Reducing Homelessness Among Extremely Vulnerable Populations
- HUD, through the HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) program, reduced veteran homelessness by 5.4 percent since last year, falling to nearly half of the number of homeless veterans reported in 2010.
- HUD-supported Continuums of Care (CoCs) reduced the number of families with children experiencing homelessness by 2.7 percent since 2017 and 29 percent since 2010.
- Funding Disaster Recovery at Historic Levels
- HUD has responded to natural disasters with historic funding levels and assistance to support the long-term recovery of affected communities. Specifically, HUD is allocating more than $35 billion in Community Development Block Grant – Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) funding to 16 states and local governments in FY2018 following several natural disasters to support long-term recovery efforts.
- HUD introduced new FHA financing options, including the “Disaster Standalone Partial Claim,” for disaster victims who are rebuilding or buying another home following a disaster. This option covered up to 12 months of missed mortgage payments via an interest-free second loan on the home.
- Protecting Taxpayers
- HUD won a significant legal victory in Anaheim Gardens v. United States, a case that has been pending for 25 years and presented HUD and the Federal government with potentially more than $100 million in liability exposure.
- HUD reduced the FHA’s exposure to risk and promoted sustainable homeownership. Specifically, HUD exceeded the statutorily mandated 2.0% capital ratio in the Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund in fiscal years 2017 and 2018 by not implementing a premium decrease announced by the previous administration.
Read more of HUD’s 2018 accomplishments here and about many of the individuals and families who have been impacted by HUD’s programs and services at HUD.gov/humansofhud.