The Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) was established under the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act of 2012 to provide public housing authorities (PHAs) with new options for preserving public housing by converting their public housing projects to HUD’s project-based Section 8 assisted housing platform. The primary intent is for PHAs to use long-term project-based Section 8 contracts to leverage external capital for preserving their low-income housing assets while protecting existing residents. In authorizing RAD, Congress added a requirement that HUD report on the program’s impact on (1) the preservation and improvement of former public housing units, (2) the amount of external capital leveraged as a result of RAD conversion, and (3) the effect of conversion on residents. This report is the first step in that evaluation process.

This report is part of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) evaluation. Reports in this series include –

• Status of HUD’s Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Evaluation and Results to Date (2014)
• Interim Report and Interim Report Summary (2016)
• Final Report (2019)
• Examining the Effects of the Rental Assistance Demonstration on Children Living in Public Housing in Fresno, California (2020)