Throwback Thursday: In 1981, HUD Subsidizes Slums
In 1981, The Department of Housing and Urban Development subsidized slum lords’ public housing for at least $200 million — $655 million in 2022 dollars — earning the department a Golden Fleece award.
Sen. William Proxmire, a Democrat from Wisconsin, gave awards to wasteful and nonsensical spending, eventually handing out 168 Golden Fleece Awards between 1975 and 1988.
HUD let “slum landlords dump their low quality, sub-standard housing on the backs of the taxpayers,” the senator said then.
The subpar housing, under the section 8 housing voucher program for low-income renters, can pass inspection and qualify for housing subsidies from HUD if they have holes in the walls and ceilings no larger than 8.5 inches and 11 inches, holes in the floor no larger than one-quarter inch, the walls are unpainted or only spot painted, floors are unfinished or half ripped up, there are no down spouts or gutters on the exterior, there are no storm doors, storm windows or screens, bedrooms have no doors or closets, kitchen cupboards are without doors or hardware, and tenants must pass through a bathroom to get to a bedroom, or pass through another bedroom to get to a bedroom.
“The housing standards for the program are so low that the practical effect is that the tenant gets a run-down, sub-par dwelling, the landlord gets a guaranteed market and an assured return on his investment, and the taxpayer gets the bill,” Proxmire said.
The senator notes that often, HUD’s standards are higher than local housing authorities, but in this case, they’re lower, weakening local standards.
HUD has justified the low standards as necessary because higher standards would “unduly restrict the housing supply to low- and moderate-income tenants,’ Proxmire quoted HUD officials as saying.
He noted that the American Housing Act of 1949 set standards to provide decent living quarters for every American.
“These HUD regulations not only violate that promise, but endanger the health and safety of hundreds of thousands of Americans housed under this low and moderate income HUD program,” the senator said.
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