The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
has set five specific goals which, the department's secretary said, will guide
the agency's operations through the next five years.
Secretary Shaun Donovan addressed HUD staff nationwide
Wednesday and unveiled the agency's Strategic Plan which he called a
"roadmap" to creating "strong, sustainable, inclusive
communities and affordable homes for all."
HUD's goals are:
- Strengthen the Housing Market to Bolster the
Economy and Protect Consumers
-
Meet the Need for Quality Affordable Rental
Homes
-
Utilize Housing as a Platform for Improving
Quality of Life
-
Build Inclusive and Sustainable Communities Free
from Discrimination
-
Transform the Way HUD Does Business.
The Plan sets forward
a number of specific actions the agency will undertake to meet its goals. These include:
-
Reducing the foreclosure rate and assisting 3
million homeowners to avoid foreclosure by the end of next year.
-
Restoring FHA's capital reserves to above 2
percent.
-
Stabilizing neighborhoods by helping communities
purchase abandoned and vacant properties.
-
Balance its support of sustainable homeownership
and rental housing by contributing to development of millions of new rental
units which meet standards of quality, accessibility and energy efficiency.
-
Use federally subsidized housing as a catalyst
for investment in other quality of life areas including health, education, and
job training.
-
Leverage private capital to expand housing for
seniors and the homeless.
-
Make neighborhoods sustainable by linking
housing to schools, jobs, and better transportation.
-
Provide gap financing for innovative high-impact
development projects that will create jobs in hard hit communities.
Donovan told staff, "This
Strategic Plan isn't just a paper exercise to produce a set of marching
orders,
but a real attempt to express what we want our agency, our homes, and
our
neighborhoods to look like in the years to come. This plan sets out
clear goals and defines
success as we take HUD to its fiftieth anniversary in 2015."
HERE is the full release