Archinect - News

AIA condemns changes to Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule

2020-07-29T19:36:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has issued a statement condemning recently announced changes to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH) provision of the 1968 Fair Housing Act by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Last week, HUD Secretary Ben Carson announced changes to the landmark Obama-era directive that effectively remove requirements for municipalities to analyze and ultimately reverse patterns of segregation within their neighborhoods.

Previously on Archinect: "Trump administration terminates Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule." View of the HUD headquarters in Washington, D.C.Image courtesy of Wikimedia user dbking

The change has been in the works since 2018 and news of its final implementation was met with strong resistance from housing activists.

In a statement condemning the changes, AIA EVP/Chief Executive Officer Robert Ivy, FAIA writes, "AIA strongly opposes the Administration’s dismantling of this critical r...

Federal government takes another step away from "affirmatively furthering fair housing"

2020-01-13T14:14:00-05:00

The history of housing discrimination in this country is in significant part a history of deliberate government policy, not market forces or individual choice. Ghettos such as those in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland and Baltimore, in fact, reflect federal policies of the mid-20th century that made segregation a condition for federal support of various kinds. That was social engineering of the most shameful sort.

The Washington Post editorial board sounds off on a recent plan advanced by United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Ben Carson that seeks to further weaken Obama-era "affirmatively furthering fair housing" regulations.

According to the editorial, the wording of the 2015 ruling has been changed by Carson to shift its focus from advancing "meaningful actions" to "replac[e] segregated living patterns with truly integrated and balanced living patterns," according to The Washington Post, with a new focus on "advancing fair housing choice within the program participant’s control or influence."

The change is one of many recent retreats on the part of the current presidential administration aimed at reversing progressive housing reforms enacted before 2016.

HUD announces delay of AFFH, an Obama-era rule combating housing segregation

2018-01-08T14:24:00-05:00

Last week, HUD published a notice in the Federal Register announcing its intentions to suspend enforcement of the rule until 2020, the New York Times reports. The notice “tells cities already at work on the detailed plans required by the rule that they no longer need to submit them, and the department says it will stop reviewing plans that have already been filed,” according to the paper.

In 2015, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, under the Obama administration, issued legislation intended to bolster the enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, a decades-old law designed to combat segregation across the country. The new, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule, required cities and towns that receive federal funding to examine their local housing patterns for racial bias and to design a plan to address any measurable bias.

However, HUD announced last week, issuing a notice, that it is will be suspending enforcement of the AFFH, now giving cities until 2020 to submit their evaluations. The notice also states that the department will stop reviewing plans that have already been filed by cities.

While the decision does not necessarily repeal the Obama-era legislation, fair housing experts believe the suspension effectively guts the ruling and significantly waters down the government's assessment tools for fair housing by delaying enforcement. Communiti...