HUD Secretary Outlines Strategic Approach Toward Sustainable Housing Recovery

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)rnhas set five specific goals which, the department's secretary said, will guidernthe agency's operations through the next five years.

Secretary Shaun Donovan addressed HUD staff nationwidernWednesday and unveiled the agency's Strategic Plan which he called arn”roadmap” to creating “strong, sustainable, inclusiverncommunities and affordable homes for all.”

HUD's goals are:rn

1. Strengthen the Housing Market to Bolster thernEconomy and Protect Consumers
2. Meet the Need for Quality Affordable RentalrnHomes
3. Utilize Housing as a Platform for ImprovingrnQuality of Life
4. Build Inclusive and Sustainable Communities Freernfrom Discrimination
5. Transform the Way HUD Does Business.

The Plan sets forwardrna number of specific actions the agency will undertake to meet its goals. These include:

• Reducing the foreclosure rate and assisting 3rnmillion homeowners to avoid foreclosure by the end of next year.
• Restoring FHA's capital reserves to above 2rnpercent.
• Stabilizing neighborhoods by helping communitiesrnpurchase abandoned and vacant properties.
• Balance its support of sustainable homeownershiprnand rental housing by contributing to development of millions of new rentalrnunits which meet standards of quality, accessibility and energy efficiency.
• Use federally subsidized housing as a catalystrnfor investment in other quality of life areas including health, education, andrnjob training.
• Leverage private capital to expand housing forrnseniors and the homeless.
• Make neighborhoods sustainable by linkingrnhousing to schools, jobs, and better transportation.
• Provide gap financing for innovative high-impactrndevelopment projects that will create jobs in hard hit communities.

Donovan told staff, “ThisrnStrategic Plan isn't just a paper exercise to produce a set of marchingorders,rnbut a real attempt to express what we want our agency, our homes, andourrnneighborhoods to look like in the years to come.  This plan sets outclear goals and definesrnsuccess as we take HUD to its fiftieth anniversary in 2015.”

HERE is the full release

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