This week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Housing and Community Development (HCD) Act of 1974. This legislation created several programs, including the Housing Choice Voucher program, the Project-Based Rental Assistance program, and the Community Block Development Grant program, to provide access to quality, safe, affordable homes for all. These initiatives ensure families have access to affordable housing. The HCD Act also introduced the Manufactured Home Construction and Safety Standards Act, known as the HUD Code, which maintains national standards for safe, durable, efficient, and affordable manufactured homes.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration, HUD continues to expand these programs in alignment with President Biden's goals to lower housing costs for Americans and reduce barriers to affordable housing.
"Like President Biden and Vice President Harris, I believe there is nothing Americans can’t do when we do it together. The groundbreaking programs we are celebrating today have provided affordable housing to countless Americans in urban, suburban, and rural communities. These programs demonstrate that when we act boldly, we meaningfully improve people’s daily lives," said Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. "We also know there is more to be done and that is why this Administration has proposed ambitious new housing investments and we call on Congress to act to help people with current high housing costs."
On August 22, 1974, the HCD Act was signed into law to provide better housing for all Americans and boost long-term prospects for a robust domestic housing market. The 1974 Act helped build major housing programs serving lower-income households:
- The Housing Choice Voucher program (tenant-based Section 8), which unlocked existing privately owned rental housing for very low-income families now serves over 2.3 million households.
- The Project-Based Rental Assistance program (project-based Section 8), providing subsidies for private developers to build housing for very low-income households now serves more than 1.3 million households.
The legislation also created the Community Block Development Grant (CDBG), aiding over 1,000 local communities in addressing various community development needs like rehabilitating housing and upgrading infrastructure. Through CDBG-Disaster Recovery since 1992, more than $100 billion has been used for long-term recovery after extreme weather events and major disasters.
Today’s HUD Code remains a federal standard ensuring manufactured homes—housing more than 20 million Americans—are safe, durable, and affordable. In recent years under HUD oversight approximately 360,000 manufactured homes adhering to this code were produced safely.
Under the Biden-Harris Administration:
- Efforts are underway to permanently authorize CDBG-Disaster Recovery Program aimed at helping communities recover efficiently.
- Steps are being taken to strengthen the Housing Choice Voucher program which saw its largest expansion in two decades under this administration.
- Initiatives like Green and Resilient Retrofit Program aim at making HUD-assisted homes energy-efficient.
- Updates are proposed for HUD Code enhancing safety standards including provisions allowing single-family multi-unit homes under this code.
HUD’s Office of Policy Development and Research will publish research papers reviewing these programs' impact over five decades in their Summer and Fall editions of Cityscape.
