Public housing is housing stock that is owned by the government; federal public housing is owned by HUD and administered by local public housing agencies (PHAs). 

Additional public housing has not been built in decades. Advocates are thus focused primarily on preserving the public housing stock that remains. Issues facing today’s public housing include: generally well-run public housing agencies facing significant federal funding shortfalls; policies like demolition, disposition and the HOPE VI program that have resulted in the nationwide loss of public housing units; and calls for deregulation of public housing, through the expansion of the Moving to Work demonstration program and other efforts, that come at the expense of affordability, deep income targeting, resident participation, and programmatic accountability.

For more information on public housing, contact Sarah Saadian, Senior Vice President of Public Policy and Field Organizing, at [email protected] or 202.662.1530 x228.

Additional Resources

Memo to Members and Partners Articles

HUD’s PIH Posts Eviction Prevention and Stability Toolkit

HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) posted an Eviction Prevention and Stability Toolkit on July 1. While the toolkit consists of eight attachments, the most important are the first four: 1) “PHA Guide to Preventing Homelessness After the Eviction Moratorium Expires;” 2) “Information and…

HUD PIH Posts Updated Waiver Notice

HUD’s Office of Public and Indian Housing (PIH) posted Notice PIH 2020-13, REV1 on July 6. This notice restates the waivers in Notice PIH 2020-05 dated April 10 (see Memo, 4/13) and introduces six new waiver options for public housing agencies (PHAs). Notice 2020-13, REV1 also extends to December…