A new focus on rental housing for poor

In a break from housing policy in the Bush years, the Obama administration plans to promote more rental opportunities for poor people, the secretary of housing and urban development said yesterday.

At a news conference in Conshohocken, Shaun Donovan said the department's focus had been weighted more toward developing and selling homes for working-class people, and less toward expanding affordable housing options for renters.

"We've effectively had a national housing policy only about home ownership, with not even a focus or discussion in Washington about the importance of rental properties," Donovan said.

He said there would be a "recommitment" at HUD to provide rental housing for lower-income families.

In Obama's recent budget proposal, HUD would increase spending for rental vouchers by $1.8 billion - enough to house 225,000 additional individuals and families, Donovan said.

"It's a very important statement," Donovan said.

He added that the administration wants to increase by $2.25 billion the amount of tax credits available for underwriting affordable housing projects.

Donovan, a former New York City housing official, announced the additional funding at a brief appearance at Marshall Lee Towers, a subsidized apartment complex for 91 elderly and disabled residents.

In March, HUD allocated nearly $3 billion in stimulus funding to 3,100 housing authorities for capital projects.

Yesterday, Donovan was promoting a second round of $1 billion in stimulus funding. The first round was allocated to agencies on the basis of population and poverty rates; the second will be awarded on a competitive basis.

HUD will focus on four areas: energy-efficiency projects; moving projects that had been stalled for lack of resources; improving obsolete housing stock; and upgrading housing for elderly or disabled residents.

"It's all good news," said John Nugent, chairman of the Montgomery County Housing Authority, who attended the briefing.

Nugent said the authority, which maintains about 600 units of subsidized housing, would see its capital budget more than double with $1.1 million in stimulus funding from the first round.

He said the agency would use the money to make units more energy-efficient - spending on things such as new boilers and replacing appliances, some of which are 30 years old.

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