RAD - Preserving and Improving Public Housing
The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program was created in order to give public housing authorities a powerful tool to preserve and improve public housing properties and address an estimated $70 billion dollar nationwide backlog of deferred maintenance. RAD also gives owners of three HUD “legacy” programs (Rent Supplement, Rental Assistance Payment, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation) the opportunity to enter into long-term contracts that facilitate the financing of improvements.
RAD Public Housing Conversions provide housing agencies with:
- The ability to leverage public and private debt and equity in order to reinvest in the public housing stock. This is critical given the estimated $70 billion dollar backlog of public housing capital improvements.
- Move public housing units to a Section 8 platform with a long-term contract that, by law, must be renewed. This ensures that the units remain permanently affordable to low-income households.
- Ensure residents continue to pay 30% of their income towards the rent and they maintain the same basic rights as they possess in the public housing program.
- The tools to maintain public stewardship of converted properties through clear rules on ongoing ownership and use.
Furthermore, the RAD program is cost-neutral and does not increase HUD's budget. This program simply shifts units from the Public Housing program to the Section 8 program so that providers may leverage the private capital markets to make capital improvements.
