Federal Housing Policies: Subsidized Production, Filtration and Objectives: Part I

Abstract

ing produced in the first thirty-five years since federal legislation was enacted (1934). A host of questions about the costs and the effectiveness of this output in meeting the nation's housing goal-as set forth in the Housing Act of 1949 and re-affirmed in the Housing Act of 1968of a decent home and suitable living environment for every American family has gained momentum and the breadth and depth of these concerns create fundamental issues about' federal housing policies. Between April 1950 and April 1970, some 96 per cent of the nation's total housing production was built for ownership by the private sector. Substantial improvement in housing conditions was recorded during this period even though only a small proportion of total production was oriented toward housing-poor families. This fact raises basic concerns. How great was the progress recorded during the 1950-1970 period? To what was this progress attributable? To what extent did housing filtration successfully operate to improve the nation's housing status? The history of federal influence upon housing policy in the United States may be conceptually divided into three periods-1934 to 1961; 1961 to 1968; and 1968 to date. The initial period was characterized by the first groping efforts toward realization of a national housing policy of a decent home . . . for every American family. Except during the World War II period of controls, the tools essentially took the form of indirect intervention in the housing market -the creation of conditions that would