NAHMA HUD Update: HUD Issues Report Reviewing the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program

September 23, 2016

In partnership with Econometrica Inc., HUD has released the following report detailing the performance of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) Program. This report reviews RAD's progress is reaching its primary goal of attracting substantial new capital to improve the physical and financial condition of public housing properties.

Since its creation in 2012, the RAD program has been seen as a promising solution to address the needs of our nation's aging public housing stock. Under the program, a limited number of properties may "convert" their assistance to long-term, project-based Section 8 contracts. These new contracts seek to provide a more reliable source of operating subsidy that allow PHAs and owners to safely leverage private capital - typically debt and equity - in order to finance the property rehabilitation or replacement.
 
This interim report provides insight into how RAD is being implemented across the country, including RAD's potential to meet the long-term challenge to preserve public housing, how it impacts the physical and financial condition of properties being converted, and how the residents of these properties are affected.
The full report may be found on the NAHMA website here