Need for renewal and housing assistance programs Twenty percent of the population now live on 1.3 percent of the land. Migration from the rural areas to the cities continues at a rate between 500,000 to 600,000 per year. Almost every city or municipality of significant size has some areas or neighborhoods that are dilapidated, overcrowded, and lacking in adequate facilities for living and other functional uses. A major problem in most cities-large and small-is the lack of sufficient, decent housing for those with low and middle incomes and for the elderly. President Johnson set the goal when he said that "we should do our best to try to get every American in every family living his life not with the haunted memory of a dilapidated and degraded hovel that he must call home-but with happy memory of a decent and dignified home worthy of a free and just society..." The renewal and housing assistance programs are designed to respond to this goal and involve a number of efforts to ameliorate these urban problems. These programs are evidence of Federal, State and local concern and determination to improve both the physical and social conditions affecting the people. Without Federal financial assistance to turn the tide, there is little likelihood that communities could recover their economic balance and continue to function as centers of commerce, industry, culture, and education for the areas which include and surround them. In cities, as well as in other communities with similar problems, Federal financial assistance from the Department's renewal and housing assistance programs is being used to achieve local objectives and schedules for solving these problems. The programs involved include renewal-through redevelopment, rehabilitation or both-of areas which physical deterioration, neglect, and obsolescence have rendered unsuitable for decent living or constructive and profitable business; the provision of public improvements and such neighborhood facilities as parks and centers for recreation and services; the provision of standard housing for those not able to afford accommodations at competitive economic prices-lowand middle-income families and individuals, those handicapped by advanced age or infirmity and housing on college campuses. PLANNING FOR DEVELOPMENT AND BLIGHT ELIMINATION Except for small communities, physical activities usually are not startedand should not be until the locality has formulated long-range plans which take stock of resources, identify needs which must be supplied from these resources, and establish priorities for the undertakings. Most communities today, confronting problems generated by the urbanization of our society, are responding by attempting some form of comprehensive urban planning to provide guidelines for development. Many of these communities are receiving financial aid in this process from funds supplied by the Federal Government, either directly or through States or other governmental jurisdictions of which they are a part. Planning is a systematic and continuing process designed to identify and provide solutions for long-range problems and meet future needs. Its purpose is to provide a basis for rational decision making and coordinated action for the social, economic, and physical development of States, regions, metropolitan areas, and local communities. It includes the assessment of problems and needs; identification and continuous refinement of objective criteria; collection and analysis of pertinent data; development and testing of alternative courses of action; policy decisions on selected courses of action; and the preparation and maintenance of a comprehensive development plan, functional plans, and short-range development programs, including administrative and financial arrangements. All renewal and housing assistance programs require some degree of comprehensive planning as a prerequisite for Federal assistance. Workable program for community improvement A locally prepared and endorsed workable program for community improve ment. reviewed and certified as adequate by HUD, is prerequisite to the various forms of urban renewal assistance, special FHA mortgage insurance aids, and annual contributions contracts for federally aided low rent public housing. This is the community's own official plan of action for using local public and private resources to eliminate and prevent slums and blight and to guide its orderly growth and development. These programs are composed of seven elements of activity which the community has accomplished or is working toward--adoption of adequate codes and ordinances and their enforcement, development of a comprehensive community plan, neighborhood analyses, administrative organization, financing, housing for displaced families and citizens participation. Performance under the workable program is measured by the progress made by the community in implementing these plans as a large part of a broad-based program of community action. To provide assurance of a sustained local effort toward attaining stated objectives within reasonable time limits, the Department's certification of adequacy remains in effect for only 1 year, except for small communities of 10,000 population or less, where the certifications or recertifications will be 2 years. Progress requirements have been raised gradually over the years, both by administrative action and by the Congress. Workable programs under current policies are not certified unless there has been in effect for at least 6 months an adequate minimum standards housing code for which the locality has an effective program of enforcement. Systematic housing code compliance and planned neighborhood improvement can contribute significantly to the elimination of unsafe and unsound structures and to other aspects of upgrading older neighborhoods. Where urban renewal projects are involved, an acceptable workable programs for community improvement must be of sufficient scope and content to furnish a basis for evaluating the need for the project and for determining that it is in accord with the workable program. Another workable program objective which is receiving increasing emphasis is the assumption of local responsibility for seeing that those displaced in the process of any Federal or locally sponsored improvement activity get the opportunity to secure decent housing. Section 701 urban planning assistance grants are available to smaller communities to aid them with their comprehensive community planning, including neighborhood analyses and other planning aspects of the workable program. A community renewal program may be similarly utilized, particularly for neighborhood analyses. Technical assistance to communities, upon request, is specifically authorized in connection with the development of the workable program for community improvement. ACTIVITIES OF RENEWAL AND HOUSING ASSISTANCE These programs supplement one another in the attack on urban blight, inadequate housing and the related social problems. They have been brought together under the Assistant Secretary for Renewal and Housing Assistance to provide a strong national-level direction and coordination. Urban renewal projects.-This program provides an effective means of reversing the trends of deterioration and blight through rehabilitation, clearance, and redevelopment of slum areas. The national goals in urban renewal are to conserve and expand housing for low- and moderate-income families, develop new employment opportunities for the unemployed and the underemployed, and the renewal of urban areas that have the most critical needs. Grants for code enforcement.-The existence of modern effective housing and building codes and adequate enforcement facilities is one of the basic necessities for effective renewal and blight prevention programs. For predominantly residential built-up areas which are deteriorating, but have not reached slum levels, municipalities may obtain direct grants for programs of concentrated code enforcement to require the upgrading of private properties and to make necessary improvements in public facilities serving the area. Aids to private rehabilitation.-Rehabilitation grants from urban renewal funds may be made to low-income owner-occupants in urban renewal and code enforcement areas. To help assure full compliance with neighborhood rehabilitation plans, these grants are available for hardship cases to avoid displacement of home-owners who cannot finance repairs and improvements which must be made to their homes. Maximum grants are $1,500 and are generally limited to residents whose annual income does not exceed $3,000. Section 312 rehabilitation loans to be repaid at 3 percent interest rates, may be made to owners or tenants of property in urban renewal or code enforcements areas to finance necessary rehabilitation. In support of the objectives of full neighborhood participation, nonresidential private properties and businesses may be rehabilitated with section 312 rehabilitation loans if they are not otherwise eligible for assistance from the Small Business Administration. Low-rent public housing.-Loans and annual contributions are made to local housing authorities to assist them in providing housing for low-income families and persons at rents they can afford. This program is being restructured to accelerate the production of housing for low-income Americans, to involve private enterprise in the development and management of such housing and to upgrade the quality of management with greater concern for tenant involvement, employment opportunities, and upgrading of existing housing. Housing for the elderly or handicapped.-Programs for housing for the elderly vary, primarily, on the basis of the type of financing, sponsorship, and the income group for whom they are designed. But all of them serve the same end-to give full opportunity to senior citizens and handicapped to share in the national goal of a "decent home in a suitable living environment for every American family." The low rent housing program provides housing for persons in the very low income group (below $2,000 for single persons and $2,600 for families). The housing for the elderly or handicapped program, section 202 direct loan housing, is intended to help meet the housing needs of the lower-middle income group ($2,000 to $4,999) for persons who are 62 years old or over or handicapped. The FHA section 231 program provides housing for persons in age 62 or over without regard to income. College housing loans.-This program provides direct loans to institutions of higher learning to provide for housing students and faculty members and for related facilities. Also, hospitals may obtain such loans to provide housing for student nurses, interns, and residents. The budget for 1969 provides that the program will be carried out under proposed legislation to provide an interest rate that will help assure that the loans are made to colleges which are unable to borrow on the private market at reasonable interest rates. Alaska housing.-A new program of grants and loans to Alaska or any official agency of the State to assist in financing housing and related facilities for Alaska natives and other low-income residents was authorized by the Demonstration Cities and Metropolitan Development Act of 1966. It is proposed that this program be financed at a level of $1 million in fiscal 1969. OTHER ASSISTANCE FOR NEIGHBORHOOD UPGRADING Areas in the cities, not requiring treatment as urban renewal projects or code enforcement programs, have elements of blight which will expand without remedial action. The 1965 housing legislation contained authority to use Federal assistance in these areas for several specific types of remedial treatment, in keeping with the objective to arrest blight and to minimize the need for full-scale urban renewal treatment in the future. Demolition grants are available to remove vacant condemned buildings. Beyond physical appearance, they may be a safety hazard and such structures provide ready targets for vandals. Localities with legal authority to clear such structures may obtain grants for two-thirds of the cost involved, once the governing body has exhausted other legal procedures to secure remedial action by the owners. Grants for structures to house neighborhood facilities may be obtained by local public bodies to assist in financing the cost of constructing, rehabilitating, or expanding neighborhood centers to house health, recreation, social, or similar services in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Creation of urban parks are possible under the open-space land programs authorization where grants are available for 50 percent of the cost of acquiring and clearing developed lands in built-up areas of towns and cities. Urban beautification grants' are available to enable cities, at moderate cost, to plan and execute programs of public beautification. The program provides grants, 1 Justifications for the creation of urban parks and for urban beautification grants are included in the metropolitan development portion of the justification volumes (pt. 3) under "Open Space Land Programs." equaling amounts provided locally to supplement usual expenditures for this purpose, which can be used for park renovation and other landscaping, replacement of obsolete or unsightly fixtures and facilities, tree planting programs for streets, the development of public malls and plazas, and provisions of facilities for outdoor seating and lighting. RELOCATION ASSISTANCE Federal assistance programs, as a side effect of their primary objectives were causing displacement of people from their homes and places of business long before the enactment of title I of the Housing Act of 1949. The problems associated with displacement, however, did not come into public focus to any marked degree until land acquisition and clearance activities of the urban renewal program attained momentum, simultaneously, in many cities. The urban renewal program was the first Federal assistance program to assume responsibility for the displacement from homes and businesses caused by the activities it sponsors; the first to discharge that responsibility by assuming the expense of relocation and requiring participating localities to make suitable relocation arrangements for those displaced. The positive results of relocation experience in urban renewal have influenced the extension of relocation payments and assistance to other Federal programs and, more gradually, to programs sponsored by State and local governments. Each new program in 1965 and 1966 legislation affecting the Department provides for relocation payments at Federal expense, if the activity could cause displacement. In addition to urban renewal, many other programs within the Department now provide for relocation payments to those displaced, and some of these require the local bodies participating in the program to provide counseling and other services to ease displacement hardships. The programs are: Low rent public housing Code enforcement program Neighborhood facilities grants Model cities programs Open-space land programs Since the urban renewal relocation assistance program is more fully and effectively developed than any other, it is described below as a model of what is being done to ease the hardships caused by displacement and, wherever possible, to assure that accommodations taken by relocatees are standard and acceptable for their needs. Services to families and individuals.—There must be a feasible method for the relocation of families and individuals displaced to decent, safe, and sanitary housing in existence, or being provided to meet their needs. The relocation assistance program is established at an early stage before project execution activities begin. Before a project may be approved for execution, the locality must submit evidence of the adequacy of the housing supply to meet anticipated relocation needs and the local body must find that the proposed relocation program is feasible. The relocation service is established, preferably, at or near the project site. Each family and individual living in the area is interviewed to explain the services available. As a minimum, each relocation assistance program must be developed, staffed, and carried out in such a way as to give maximum assurance that families and individualss will obtain decent, safe, and sanitary housing at costs which are within their means. Although standards for relocation housing are locally determined, they are subject to Federal approval. The acceptable local standard may not be set below the level of the local housing code. By regulation, five types of standards must be met including physical condition of the dwelling; size of the dwelling relative to the family size and composition; health and safety standards; ability-to-pay standards expressed in terms of gross rent as a percentage of income, and criteria for determining a family's ability to purchase a house; and location standards, including accessibility to places of employment and desirability of the new location in terms of public utilities and commercial facilities. Families and elderly individuals who were eligible for low-rent or rent supplement housing but are unable to secure a suitable unit, may be entitled to an additional payment to cover the extra cost incidental to displacement. The relocation adjustment payment is available to families or individuals who move into standard housing in the private market, and for whom the cost of the unit of suitable size exceeds 20 percent of their income. Business relocation.-Increasing attention is being given to the impact of dislocation on business establishments, particularly small businesses. In many instances, highly specialized help has been available in local renewal agencies to analyze the needs of the businesses being displaced and find appropriate new quarters. The uprooting and relocation of a business, particularly a small business, is fraught with economic and emotional frustrations. The small business being displaced usually has the adverse characteristics of less capital, difficulty in securing outside financing and dependence upon the immediate neighborhood as its trading area. These businesses are faced with a change from the low overhead associated with long establishment and small-scale operations in a deteriorated neighborhood to higher overheads and the development of clientele in a new environment. Business concerns may be paid for actual moving expenses and direct property loss up to $3,000. If no claim is made for property loss, a relocation payment up to $25,000 can be made for moving expense. Small business concerns with average annual net earnings of less than $10,000 may also be eligible for a $2,5000 small business displacement payment. In addition, the Small Business Administration is authorized to provide technical and managerial assistance and loans to displaced business concerns. SBA's dispplaced business loans are available to former tenants as well as owners for purchase or construction of new premises. A new program is also available which guarantees small business concerns leases of commercial and industrial property. ORGANIZATION FOR RENEWAL AND HOUSING ASSISTANCE Office of the Assistant Secretary.—Organizational units reporting to the Assistant Secretary perform functions and services for both the Renewal Assistance Administration and the Housing Assistance Administration in those areas where policy consistency, better services, and more economical operation will result through consolidation. In addition to the unified management of programs administered by Renewal Assistance Administration and Housing Assistance Administration, responsibility for relocation and social planning functions and for the workable programs for community improvement for the entire Department have been placed in organizational units under this Assistant Secretary. The Office of Community Development performs functions concerned with communitywide development and services. These functions include the relocation and rehousing of persons and businesses diplaced by any Department program, social planning for all Department programs, the community design aspects of renewal and housing asistance programs, and workable programs for community improvement. The Operational Services Division performs specialized staff functions and services common to both renewal and housing assistance programs to permit uniform policy direction and more services in connection with related functions. Consolidated staff functions and services performed by the Division include those relating to project financing, acquisition of land by local agencies, appraisal and other technical services for land acquisition and disposition, and administrative practices of local agencies. The plans, programs, and evaluation staff develops for all renewal and housing assitsance programs, long-range plans and forecasts of program requirements, and program data and reporting systems, and evaluates and reports on them. |