New Updates on The Edge

Featured Story

Message from PD&R Leadership:
Instituting Smoke-Free Public Housing: Economic Impacts
In November 2015, HUD proposed a smoke-free regulation that would require public housing agencies (PHAs) to implement a policy that all PHA-owned indoor areas and all areas within 25 feet of public housing be free from lit tobacco products. Alastair McFarlane, Director of the Economic Development and Public Finance Division in HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, highlights how smoking impacts tenants' health and PHAs' maintenance and rehabilitation expenses.

In Practice:
Expanding Affordable Senior Housing and Building Community in Seattle, Washington
After a full renovation and expansion, Leschi House, an affordable housing development in Seattle's Chinatown-International District, reopened in March 2015 with twice the number of housing units. The owner of the property, Seattle Housing Authority, enhanced the development's water and energy efficiency, improved the property's accessibility, and provided a case manager to further the property's goals of promoting independent living and building community for its low-income senior residents.

Policy Update:
Financing Effective Housing Interventions With Pay for Success
The Pay for Success (PFS) model is a form of impact investing in which an organization, typically a government, sets specific targets that another organization, such as a service provider, must meet in return for payments. State and local governments have begun using PFS to implement interventions to improve education and address asthma, homelessness, and prisoner recidivism. Officials in many communities that have implemented housing-related PFS contracts expect to see positive outcomes and cost savings.