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:

  1. Strengthen the Housing Market to Bolster the Economy and Protect Consumers
  2. Meet the Need for Quality Affordable Rental Homes
  3. Utilize Housing as a Platform for Improving Quality of Life
  4. Build Inclusive and Sustainable Communities Free from Discrimination
  5. 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