The ROAD to Housing Act: The latest milestone in the history of American public housing

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, the comprehensive bipartisan federal housing bill that became law in July, includes several important reforms to the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program, which will determine the future of public rental housing in the United States. Public rental housing units are owned and operated by public entities and housing agencies and charge rents that are affordable to very low-income households, capped at no more than 30% of the household’s gross income. The federal government funded the first public housing projects in the 1930s and through the 1970s. Over the last century, more than 1.5 million public rental housing units were built. Public housing’s changing tenant base and funding model Tenants in public housing became increasingly concentrated to low-income households – federal law eventually required that a minimum of 40% of new admissions into public housing each year go to households earning equal to or less than 30% of the area median income. Many properties far exceed this 40% minimum due to high demand. Low rents meant the rental income could not support the operating expenses or the improvements necessary to maintain good buildin...