Adrianne Todman, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is hoping the agency can help remedy some of America’s outdated homes.
Affordable housing has been a focal point for President Joe Biden and his administration, with HUD instituting various programs to increase the number of new units built across the nation.
But Todman, who has been in her position since March 22, said it’s not just about making more places available. Fixing what’s already been built — and even making those older homes more environmentally friendly — is important as well.
That’s why HUD and the Biden administration announced a new capital fund to allocate $3 billion to housing agencies across the country to make repairs to public housing.
“I mean, here’s the thing, people want to be able to go home and be at peace,” Todman said. “You don’t want to worry about: Am I going to be flooded out tonight? Is there any risk of anything happening? And so, we want to make sure that as we’re building more units with people, that people are coming home and being able to live peacefully.”
The Sun sat down Monday with Todman to talk about the public housing repair fund, the importance of fixing existing units and the work of local jurisdictions to improve housing availability in Southern Nevada.
Here is some of what was discussed:
Could you explain where this program got its inspiration from and how long you have been working on it?
Well, it’s a program that HUD, thankfully, has had for many, many years now. But what we’re doing now is that we’re trying to make sure we’re pushing the dollars out as quickly as we can — provided Congress gives it to us — and that we’re doing everything we can to streamline the program.
About two years ago, HUD created a Housing Supply Action Plan, so how does this new initiative fit into that plan overall?
So, you know, we need more units of every kind; we need apartments, we need condos, we need single-family homes, we need all the things that people want to purchase and to rent. But, we also need to fix the things that we have, and that’s the case, not just in urban America, but rural America as well; particularly, in rural America, where there may be a lot of units, but they’re distressed.
One of the things we know is that some of the units that we have available for our lowest-income Americans are in dire need of repair. So, how this fits in is that we realize that, as we are building to the needs of the American people, and the people who are here in Nevada, that we also need to make sure we are doing repairs to the homes that we have for people who live there.
A lot of talk recently has been about housing affordability, and pricing and so forth, but could you also explain the importance of fixing what we already have, and ensuring that these homes are well suited for the people who live in them?
You know, what sorts of impacts can a deteriorating home have on a person or a family, it means everything — and not just the aesthetics, but also we’re talking about making sure we have taken care of any sort of like peeling paint to make sure that we don’t have any lead hazards for our children; we want to make sure that the water is running and it’s free and clear of any hazards; you want to make sure that toilets are working, that kitchens are working in the way that people want them to work and basic things.
How do you think, expect or suggest Clark County take advantage of a program like this for our residents here?
They already have. That’s the good news, and one of the reasons I’m here is to talk to the people responsible for housing here in Las Vegas, here in Clark County, about things that they’re doing that’s innovative, particularly as it relates to not just this program, but also building units. I was really excited to hear about some of the unprecedented coordination that’s happening between the city and the county that both the mayor and the county chairperson (spoke of) this morning, but also just the sense of a true north of what it is that the leaders here want to have done.
One of the things I’m really excited about is the very creative use of our federal dollars to build more housing for folks who live here, whether that’s the president’s American Rescue Plan (Act) funds, whether that’s the expansion of some of the existing programs that HUD has similar to the announcement that we’ve made today — just talking to them about making sure that they have HUD support to get that work done.
And I would add to that, also making sure that we are cutting the red tape. One of the things that the president said when he was out here was, we want to make sure we have the resources, we want to cut the red tape so that we’re acting quickly, and one of the reasons I’m here is to help cut that red tape.
You already mentioned that the county and the city have been already trying to do a lot to bolster the housing supply as well as the quality of the housing here. And so how could a program like this complement the efforts that they’re already doing?
So, it contributes to their long-range planning. One of the things that I heard the mayor of Las Vegas say today and emphasize is that we all need a plan. Locally, we need a plan to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to help the families who are here, who have got people who are unhoused (and) who need housing, or people who want to buy their first home. So, it’s going to contribute to their long-range planning of how they’re going to use these funds, and how they’re going to couple these funds with, perhaps, some of the other dollars that we’ve mentioned.
Here’s the thing, building housing, repairing housing is extraordinarily complex. I wish it were not. (But) it takes local dollars, it takes state dollars, it takes federal dollars to happen, and lots of lawyers in the room figuring it out.
One of the things that we’re working on at HUD is really, how do we simplify that process? Using not just some of the funds that we just mentioned, that are really focused on repair, but how do we streamline the process to just build housing period?
In addition to that, we’ve been building housing the same way for decades and decades and decades. One of the things I’m proud of is that we have invited to the table innovators in ways that we can build housing for the 21st century that’s quicker and less expensive. And (I’m) really looking forward to rolling out some of those ideas very soon.
In March, there was a new program introduced to put out more housing that is sustainable and environmentally friendly. So, is this repair program also going to help with upgrading some of the older housing that is not so sustainable?
Absolutely. You know, that’s been one of our — one of this administration’s — sort of true north, which is, not only do we need to build more and repair more, but we must do it in a way that’s resilient.
You know, we’re here in Las Vegas; I’m going to assume it gets hot. I’m going to assume that it feels hotter and hotter every summer. One of the things that HUD released just a couple of weeks ago is some information about how to use funds — including the funds we announced today — to have a better cooling effect on families so that they are comfortably housed, and that dealing with some of the historic heat temperatures that we’ve had over the past couple of years. So, we want the funds we’re announcing today and future funding — all funding — to do just that. And not just cooling, but also making sure we’re building resiliency in terms of energy efficiency, right?
Utility costs have gone up (and) insurance costs have gone up. One of the things that we also did was we released some new rules using our funds that we know will help families reduce the utility costs by $25,000 and also help reduce insurance costs because of the resiliency built into the new units that will be built. We’re coming at it at all angles.
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