Since its inception in the Housing Act of 1937, public housing has faced decades of chronic underfunding and disinvestment. The last thirty years have brought a renewed commitment to new policies and investment in this irreplaceable public asset through additional resources such as LIHTC, HOPE VI, Choice Neighborhoods, and AARPA grants and leveraged finance models in the Mixed Finance, Moving to Work and Rental Assistance Demonstration programs. CLPHA’s Housing Is Initiative has demonstrated over the last ten years how effective cross-sector partnerships and program alignment can better meet the needs of residents to improve life outcomes. However, the best efforts to date have fallen far short of the investments and policies needed to ensure that the portfolio is green, climate resilient, energy efficient, and supportive of the health and well-being of its residents.  

HUD’s last estimate of the capital need backlog more than a decade ago was $26 billion and did not include the cost of green energy, climate, and health standards that we consider acceptable and necessary today. Current estimates of the portfolio's capital needs backlog are now closer to $100 billion. The average annual public housing capital fund appropriation is under $3 billion. Developing and implementing a ten-year roadmap of sustained investments and policies is imperative to preserving, revitalizing, and improving the portfolio and reversing the disparities experienced by residents.