U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Scott Turner has announced that the Department is streamlining and simplifying its disaster recovery processes to deliver disaster assistance more quickly to Americans recovering from catastrophic events.
HUD has published an updated Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery (CDBG-DR) Universal Notice, which consolidates relevant requirements from several Federal Register notices and Community Planning and Development (CPD) notices since 1992, incorporates more than 700 stakeholder comments, and aligns with President’s Trump’s Executive Orders to expand equitable and affordable housing nationwide.
“HUD is committed to helping Americans recover from natural disasters, and a key part of our commitment is streamlining outdated and cumbersome processes to ensure there is no delay in providing critical resources to the communities we are called to serve,” Secretary Turner said. “With this Universal Notice, HUD will better serve the American people during trying times with the urgency they deserve.”
HUD recently allocated nearly $12 billion in CDBG-DR funds across 47 grantees–including 23 states, 15 counties, eight cities, and one territory. These grantees will all benefit from the streamlined guidance in the updated Universal Notice.
The Universal Notice is intended to provide publicly informed, consistent guidance for communities recovering from disasters.
The Universal Notice is intended to provide publicly informed, consistent guidance for communities recovering from disasters, and incorporates many of the public’s comments and recommendations, including:
- Increasing access to information on the status of disaster recovery assistance
- Simplifying housing documentation requirements for disaster survivors
- Providing flexibility for rental assistance, including the ability to get reimbursed, and
- Offering greater flexibility on building codes and standards.
In addition to significant policy changes and updates, HUD will provide an extension if needed for the grantees to submit their Action Plans to allow HUD staff to work with states and localities on training and to ensure their Action Plans are compliant with the Universal Notice and are aligned with the President’s Executive Orders.
The Mounting Price of Disaster Recovery
The nation was struck with a number of natural disasters over the past 12 months that impacted billions of dollars in housing repairs, displacing residents until alternative housing means became available.
In January, high winds and dry conditions led to some of the most destructive fires in Los Angeles’ history, destroying more than 57,000 acres of land and more than 16,200 structures, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). More than $40 billion in estimated real estate value was put at risk during the Los Angeles wildfires, as damage estimates continue to roll in.
Last September’s Hurricane Helene unleashed catastrophic flood conditions on western North Carolina, with the North Carolina Office of State Budget and Management (OSBM) projecting damages totaling $59.6 billion due to the storm, with $15.4 billion of that total needed for housing assistance and recovery with single-family homes, manufactured homes, and duplexes accounting for the majority of affected residential structures. Approximately 73,700 homes were projected to be found damaged by the time the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) finishes its assessment.
HUD Deepens Its Commitment to Affordable Housing
The Trump administration recently announced a six-month delay in the implementation of a Biden administration energy code. HUD announced it will wait an additional six months before enforcing the compliance dates for adopting the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) and ASHRAE 90.1-2019 as the minimum energy-efficiency standards for certain single-family and multifamily housing programs.
“This six-month pause by HUD is an important step forward to help ease the nation’s housing affordability crisis,” said National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Chairman Buddy Hughes. “Compliance with this rule would make it much harder for home builders and multifamily developers to build housing that is available and affordable for American families.
The 2021 IECC includes several changes which impact both energy savings and construction costs for residential construction. NAHB found that compliance with the 2021 IECC can add more than $20,000 to the price of a new home, however, home builders have estimated increased costs of up to $31,000.
Earlier this week, HUD Secretary Turner, along with U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) Secretary Doug Burgum, announced a Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing to identify underutilized federal lands suitable for residential development, streamline land transfer processes, and promote policies that increase the availability of affordable housing.
The Interior Department currently oversees more than 500 million acres of federal land, much of it suitable for residential use. Along with HUD, the Interior Department has launched the new Joint Task Force on Federal Land for Housing to increase housing supply and decrease costs for millions of Americans.
HUD will be tasked with pinpointing where housing needs are most pressing, and the Interior Department will identify locations that can support home.
“This partnership will identify underutilized federal land suitable for residential development and streamline the land transfer process,” explained Burgum. “It will also promote policies to increase the availability of affordable housing while balancing important environmental and land use considerations.”
