HUD Awards Over $16 Million in Wisconsin to Improve, Preserve Nation’s Public Housing

WASHINGTON – U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today awarded over $16 million to public housing authorities in Wisconsin. The funding will allow agencies to make major large-scale improvements to their public housing units.  View funding by public housing authority here.

Today’s grants are provided through HUD’s Capital Fund Program, which offers annual funding to approximately 3,100 public housing authorities to build, repair, renovate and/or modernize the public housing in their communities.  These housing authorities use the funding to do large-scale improvements such as replacing roofs or making energy-efficient upgrades to replace old plumbing and electrical systems.

“Every American deserves a place to call home where they can successfully raise their kids, enhance their financial security and build a better life,” said HUD Secretary Julián Castro.  “Through this funding, HUD is committed to strengthening our nation’s affordable housing units and to providing folks with the springboard they need to succeed.”

“In Wisconsin, the Capital Fund Program will help ensure that our families and most vulnerable individuals, our seniors, are residing in housing that is decent, safe and in good repair,” said Antonio R. Riley, HUD Midwest Regional Administrator. “It is part of HUD’s mission to protect consumers and meet the need for quality affordable homes for all.”

For more than 75 years, the federal government has been working and investing billions of dollars in developing and maintaining public and multifamily housing – including providing critical support through the Capital Fund grants announced today.  Still, the nation continues to lose approximately 10,000 public housing units each year, primarily due to disrepair.  In 2011, HUD released Capital Needs in the Public Housing Program, a study that estimated the capital needs in the public housing stock in the U.S.  The study found the nation’s 1.1 million public housing units are facing an estimated $25.6 billion in large-scale repairs.  Unlike routine maintenance, capital needs are extensive improvements required to make the housing decent and economically sustainable, such as replacing roofs or updating plumbing and electrical systems to increase energy efficiency.

To help protect the considerable federal investment in public housing, and respond to the growing demand for affordable rental housing, the Obama Administration proposed the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD), a comprehensive strategy that complements the Capital Fund Program and offers a long-term solution to preserve and enhance the country’s affordable housing stock, including leveraging public and private funding to make critically needed improvements.

Since Congress approved the RAD demonstration in November of 2011, early results show it is generating significant additional capital for public and assisted housing.  HUD has made awards to 60,000 public and assisted housing units in more than 340 different projects across the country.  Through these awards, housing authorities have proposed to generate approximately $3 billion in capital repairs by leveraging private debt and equity, which will preserve or replace distressed units and support local jobs in their communities – all without additional federal resources.

Currently, the Department has received applications from PHAs for an additional 116,000 units under RAD. To support the growing demand for RAD, the President’s FY 2016 budget proposal requests to eliminate the RAD cap, and provide $50 million to help local public housing agencies to finance the recapitalization of more than 185,000 units of public housing and stimulate private investment.

HUD’s mission is to create strong, sustainable, inclusive communities and quality affordable homes for all. HUD is working to strengthen the housing market to bolster the economy and protect consumers; meet the need for quality affordable rental homes: utilize housing as a platform for improving quality of life; build inclusive and sustainable communities free from discrimination; and transform the way HUD does business. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and http://espanol.hud.gov.  You can also follow HUD on twitter @HUDnews, on facebook at www.facebook.com/HUD, or sign up for news alerts on HUD’s Email List.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.