New Updates on The Edge

Message from PD&R Leadership:
Research Partnerships: Locally Driven, Jointly Supported
PD&R's Research Partnerships program supports and funds research proposals developed by private and nonprofit institutions on subjects relevant to HUD's mission. Over the past 6 years, the program has allowed HUD to support 27 research projects nationwide, involving more than $8.6 million in HUD funding and $30.6 million in leveraged funding. General Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research Matt Ammon highlights some of the Research Partnerships projects that were recently completed or are underway.

Research:
The Native American Housing Needs Study
In January 2017, HUD published the congressionally mandated Assessment of American Indian and Alaska Native Housing Needs. The study explores tribal experiences under the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996, a law that fundamentally changed HUD's Indian housing programs by shifting spending control to tribes. The research finds that housing conditions vary widely across tribal lands, but conditions are substantially worse for Native American households than for other U.S. households.

In Practice:
Wabash Estates Provides Cooperative Affordable Housing for Seniors in Baltimore
Wabash Estates, a 57-unit affordable housing development for residents who are at least 62 years old, opened in Baltimore, Maryland, in June 2014. The developer, CSI Support & Development Services, constructed Wabash Estates to help meet the need for housing that allows older residents to remain at home safely and affordably as they age. In keeping with CSI's mission, the development is managed as a cooperative, in which residents participate in all major operating decisions.

Trending:
The First-Time Homebuyer Education and Counseling Demonstration
For first-time homebuyers, the homebuying process can be difficult to navigate. To help ease this process, HUD supports and oversees a network of housing counseling agencies. In response to questions about the relative efficacy of homebuyer education and counseling for prospective first-time homebuyers, HUD designed The First-Time Homebuyer Education and Counseling Demonstration, a randomized controlled experiment conducted in partnership with 3 national lenders and more than 60 housing education and counseling agencies across 28 metropolitan areas.

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