Ben Carson’s 3 Ambitious Agenda Items for Reforming Public Housing

From The Daily Signal.com (Mar. 18):

Here are three agenda items the HUD secretary says he is working on during 2019:

1. Work Requirements for Rental Assistance

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Under Trump’s budget proposal for HUD, able-bodied adults getting rental assistance would be required to work at least 20 hours per week or attend job training or education classes. The requirement doesn’t include the elderly or disabled.

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2. Private-Sector Help to Rehabilitate Public Housing

Under Carson, a public-private partnership program to get private funds to renovate dilapidated public housing structures has reached more than 100,000 units and drew $5.8 billion in private investment.

Carson said that HUD has accelerated the Rental Assistance Demonstration program, begun in the Obama administration, because it has been a good deal for taxpayers while increasing affordable housing for the needy.

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3. Deregulating a Path to Affordable Housing

Carson has been talking to local government leaders about scaling back land-use regulations that drive up housing costs. He said HUD has been looking at tying federal grants to local governments with deregulation.

That includes zoning regulation, rent control, and environmental rules.

“In terms of what we’re talking about, regulatory and zoning restrictions for single-family homes, you’re adding 25 [percent to] 27 percent to the cost,” Carson said. “So, that’s huge. For multifamily, you’re talking 32.1 percent on average; in a quarter of cases, up to 42 percent. So, you’re talking huge numbers here.” [read more]