President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that he may end one Obama-era housing rule, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH).
“At the request of many great Americans who live in the Suburbs, and others, I am studying the AFFH housing regulation that is having a devastating impact on these once thriving Suburban areas. Corrupt Joe Biden wants to make them MUCH WORSE,” he wrote on a Twitter post. “Not fair to homeowners, I may END!”
At the request of many great Americans who live in the Suburbs, and others, I am studying the AFFH housing regulation that is having a devastating impact on these once thriving Suburban areas. Corrupt Joe Biden wants to make them MUCH WORSE. Not fair to homeowners, I may END!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 1, 2020
The Obama administration published the AFFH rule in July 2015 to impose several legal obligations on local governments, including reviewing fair housing based on maps and tools provided by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and submitting plans—known as consolidated plans or ConPlan—every five years.
Trumps announcement came as the HUD stopped aggressively implementing the AFFH rule.
HUD suspended the obligation of local governments to file consolidated plans under the regulation in January 2018 and withdrew a computer assessment tool required to be used in preparing those plans in May 2018.
In the latest rule (pdf) published on Jan. 7, 2020, HUD changed the definition of AFFH shifting the emphasis from “address[ing] significant disparities in housing” to “advancing fair housing choice within the program participants control or influence.”
HUD also gave more flexibility to local governments to identify common barriers to fair housing choice.
“Jurisdictions are free to choose to undertake changes to zoning or land-use policies as one method of complying with the AFFH obligation,” read the Jan. 7 rule. “However, no jurisdiction may have their [AFFH] certification questioned because they do not choose to undertake zoning changes.”
The rule also allows local governments to use non-qualitative indicators to identify those barriers.
HUD said in a statement on Jan. 7 that the rule was changed because the AFFH rule is “ineffective, highly prescriptive, and effectively discouraged the production of affordable housing.”
“By fixing the old Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, localities now have the flexibility to devise housing plans that fit their unique needs and provide families with more housing choices within their reach,” Housing Secretary Ben Carson said. “Mayors know their communities best, so we are empowering them to make housing decisions that meet their unique needs, not a mandate from thRead More From Source
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