Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) unlocks the creation of deeply affordable housing in support of Administration objectives to increase rental housing supply for some of the nation’s most vulnerable populations
This week, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) commemorated the first anniversary of the creation of the “Faircloth-to-RAD” initiative, a new pathway that allows Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) to leverage their “Faircloth Authority” to create new deeply affordable rent-assisted housing through the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD).
“This Administration is using every tool available to address the shortage of affordable housing across the country, especially for the lowest-income families,” said Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “As we mark the one-year anniversary of this initiative, I applaud what our Department has accomplished to secure new, deeply affordable housing options for hundreds of families, and I look forward to serving more communities in the months to come.”
“Faircloth-to-RAD” conversions result in new housing units that are affordable to the lowest-income families, elderly persons, and persons with disabilities. The initiative supports the Biden-Harris Administration’s objectives to increase the availability of affordable rental housing specifically for these populations. In one year, HUD has 34 projects in the Faircloth-to-RAD pipeline, which will eventually create 1,847 deeply affordable rental homes. Five of these projects are currently under construction. Two projects, in Miami, FL and Baltimore, MD, have completed construction and have begun to welcome new residents.
“From supporting new, affordable multifamily construction in Miami, FL, to helping to rebuild hurricane-damaged public housing units in Galveston, TX, Faircloth-to-RAD has been a critical and innovative tool to create brand new, deeply affordable housing for the nation’s vulnerable populations in America,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing Lopa P. Kolluri.
The impact of the Faircloth-to-RAD initiative is becoming visible across the nation. With Faircloth-to-RAD, the Housing Authority of Miami-Dade County, FL was able to integrate 27 deeply affordable homes into a new 161 unit mixed-income community called Brisas Del Rio. In Washington, DC, Faircloth-to-RAD enabled the D.C. Housing Authority to commit 101 affordable “Faircloth-to-RAD” homes for low-income seniors at Kenilworth 166. In Galveston, TX, the Housing Authority of the City of Galveston is using Faircloth-to-RAD for the rebuilding of Oleander at Broadway, a 419-unit community that is returning 174 rent-assisted “Faircloth-to-RAD” homes that were severely damaged from Hurricane Ike in 2008.
About Faircloth-to-RAD
The Faircloth limit is a cap that Congress established in 1998 on the number of public housing units the Federal government supports. However, many PHAs operate fewer rent-assisted units than they are authorized under their “Faircloth” limit. Nationwide, HUD estimates that public housing inventory could be expanded by nearly 235,000 units if PHAs had access to capital to acquire or construct this new housing. A Faircloth-to-RAD strategy allows PHAs to tap into this opportunity to create more affordable housing by using RAD to establish a long-term, reliable rental subsidy contract for new housing units, helping PHAs and their partners more readily finance the development of affordable rental homes.
The Faircloth-to-RAD pathway represents an innovative solution to activate this existing Federal authority to create affordable housing and is one of many ways that RAD helps provide important new tools that PHAs can use to improve their communities.
About RAD
RAD was designed to help address the multi-billion-dollar nationwide backlog of deferred maintenance in the public housing portfolio and to stem the loss of affordable housing that could no longer be kept to decent standards. From the program’s inception through April 1, 2022, the Rental Assistance Demonstration has facilitated more than $14.5 billion in capital investment to improve or replace nearly 175,000 deeply rent-assisted homes, most of which house extremely low-income families, seniors, and persons with disabilities.
Under RAD, projects funded under the public housing program convert their public housing assistance to project-based Section 8 rental assistance. Under Section 8, as with public housing, residents pay 30% of their income towards rent and the housing must continue to serve those with very low and extremely low incomes. Residents must be notified and consulted prior to conversion and are given a right to return to assisted housing post-construction so that the same tenants can enjoy these newly preserved and improved apartments and maintain the same fundamental rights they had as public housing residents.
Faircloth Pipeline
| State | PHA | Projects |
| NY | Albany Housing Authority | 1 |
| MA | Cambridge Housing Authority | 2 |
| IL | Chicago Housing Authority | 6 |
| DC | D.C. Housing Authority | 2 |
| DE | Dover Housing Authority | 1 |
| AZ | Eloy Housing Authority | 1 |
| TN | Highlands Residential Services | 1 |
| LA | Housing Authority of Shreveport | 2 |
| CA | Housing Authority of the City of Alameda | 1 |
| CA | Housing Authority of the City of Fresno, California | 1 |
| GA | Housing Authority of the City of Gainesville | 2 |
| TX | Housing Authority of the City of Galveston | 1 |
| CA | Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles | 2 |
| CT | Housing Authority of the City of New Haven | 1 |
| WA | Housing Authority of the City of Vancouver | 1 |
| KS | Manhattan Housing Authority | 1 |
| FL | Miami-Dade County | 2 |
| TN | Murfreesboro Housing Authority | 1 |
| PA | Philadelphia Housing Authority | 2 |
| IL | The Housing Authority of City of East St. Louis | 1 |
| MN | Washington County CDA | 1 |
RAD Resources
Read more here about the Faircloth-to-RAD process and how to apply as a Public Housing Agency. Find out how many units each public housing agency in the country has available to develop under their Faircloth limit here.