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Whose "flexibility"?

Any thoughts here about the State And Local Housing Flexibility Act of 2005, S. 771?

This is the Section 8 "flexibility" bill, which would allow housing authorities more control over their Section 8 voucher money -- among other things, allowing them to spend less of their money on the most destitute tenants. (See especially Section 109 in the bill's text at THOMAS.) The bill was much discussed at a Senate subcommittee hearing on the budget for the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), which opposes the bill. (You can read a couple of the prepared statements from the hearing on the subcommittee's Web site.)

So -- should housing authorities be allowed to use their Section 8 vouchers in their own way, even if that means changing the nature of the program by choosing to help tenants at higher income levels who need smaller subsidies per household? On one hand, HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson and some housing authority managers back the "flexibility" proposals as a way to let local managers use their hard-earned wisdom about what works best locally. On the other hand, many housing groups, including NLIHC, say S. 771 would hurt the neediest tenants and increase homelessness.

So what do you think?

March housing starts: cause for worry?

So we all know March housing starts are down overall. One expert calls it a fluke -- "a head fake" -- but nevertheless, they're down.

So what about multifamily construction?

Delving into the fine print of Tuesday's Census Bureau release, it looks like the number of units started in privately owned buildings of five or more units declined from February to March by a whopping 31.6%, exceeding the overall decline of 17.6%. On the other hand, in the 5-or-more-units category, building permits fell only 2.6%; units permitted but not started actually rose 3.2%, units under ongoing construction fell 0.3%, and completions held exactly steady.

So is there a bubble? What do folks here think?

Looking for preservation projects?

The National Housing Trust is offering lists of projects across the country that have expiring Section 8 contracts. Preservation-minded redevelopers might be interested in checking out the site, although the list does include buildings that lost their Section 8 subsidies as long as 10 years ago. (Item via HAC News.)

Operating subsidy blues

NAHRO has issued a press release expressing outrage at a proposed new operating subsidy rule in the April 14 Federal Register. NAHRO says the proposal undoes considerable negotiation progress between "public housing stakeholders" and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), making subsidy formulas unrealistic and subsidy increases, if any, slower to take effect. But the rule's HUD-drafted preamble says "These regulatory changes reflect the recommendations made by the negotiated rulemaking committee, with some modifications...," and it says they take into account a specially commissioned Harvard study on the cost of running public housing. Comments can be submitted to HUD via www.regulations.gov -- or to your colleagues in the comments thread right here.

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