MIAMI, Fla. – Feb. 13, 2012 – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan awarded Florida public housing authorities $49,658,600 to make major large-scale improvements to public housing units.
Nationwide, HUD granted a total of almost $1.8 billion, with the top amount, $321.5 million, going to New York.
The grants are through HUD’s Capital Fund Program, which helps public housing authorities build, repair, renovate and/or modernize public housing in their communities. The funding can be used to make large-scale improvements, such as new roofs, or to make energy-efficient upgrades to replace old plumbing and electrical systems.
“This funding will help housing authorities address long-standing capital improvements, but it only scratches the surface in addressing the deep backlog we’re seeing across the country,” says HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.
In November 2011, Congress gave HUD approval to test a new oversight tool to preserve public housing and other HUD-assistant housing, the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD). Public housing authorities need almost $26 billion to keep these homes safe and decent.
In FY 2012, HUD says RAD funds will help authorities and owners make standard life-cycle improvements to their inventory and modernize or replace obsolete units. The demonstration will bring more than 60,000 properties into a reliable, long term, project-based rental assistance contract – and allow public housing authorities to raise more than $6.1 billion in private financing to reduce the large backlog of capital repair needs.
© 2012 Florida Realtors®