“UrbanDevelopment”

federal executive division responsible for carrying out government housing and community development programs. HUD works to ensure equal access to housing and community-based employment opportunities; finances new housing, public housing, and housing rehabilitation projects; insures mortgages for single-family homes and multifamily units; and carries out programs that serve the housing needs of low-income and minority families, the elderly, disabled, and mentally ill. HUD housing offices also work to protect consumers against fraudulent practices by land developers, ensure the safety of manufactured (mobile) homes, and defend home buyers against abusive mortgage-loan practices. Its community planning and development offices administer block grant programs designed to rehabilitate blighted urban neighborhoods. The department also maintains various oversight units to monitor programs, hear complaints, and adjudicate claims.

established a Cabinet-level department to coordinate federal housing programs. Intended as a measure to improve living conditions in urban areas, it provided comprehensive housing assistance to low- and moderate-income families and gave urban interests an active voice in federal housing policy. Previous legislation had authorized low-cost mortgage loans administered by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), suburban development programs (e.g., the G.I. Bill), and various neighborhood rehabilitation programs, including some urban renewal efforts; but only with the creation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in 1965 did federal assistance become available on a large scale to blighted urban areas. A 1968 amendment set as a target the construction of millions of new housing units and gave HUD more direct administrative authority, but the program was halted by executive order under President Richard M. Nixon and subsequently revised to provide primarily rent assistance. By the 1990s federal housing policy had shifted toward an emphasis on local block grants, various savings and loan programs, and private home ownership.