§ 971.3 - Standards for identifying developments.

§ 971.3 Standards for identifying developments.

(a) PHAs shall use the following standards for identifying developments or portions thereof which are subject to section 202's requirement that PHAs develop and carry out plans for the removal over time from the public housing inventory. These standards track section 202(a) of OCRA. The development, or portions thereof, must:

(1) Be on the same or contiguous sites. (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(1)). This standard and the standard set forth in paragraph (a)(2) of this section refer to the actual number and location of units, irrespective of HUD development project numbers.

(2) Total more than 300 dwelling units. (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(2)).

(3) Have a vacancy rate of at least ten percent for dwelling units not in funded, on-schedule modernization. (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(3)). For this determination, PHAs and HUD shall use the data the PHA relied upon for its last Public Housing Management Assessment Program (PHMAP) certification, as reported on the Form HUD-51234 (Report on Occupancy), or more recent data which demonstrates improvement in occupancy rates. Units in the following categories shall not be included in this calculation:

(i) Vacant units in an approved demolition or disposition program;

(ii) Vacant units in which resident property has been abandoned, but only if State law requires the property to be left in the unit for some period of time, and only for the period stated in the law;

(iii) Vacant units that have sustained casualty damage, but only until the insurance claim is adjusted; and

(iv) Units that are occupied by employees of the PHA and units that are utilized for resident services.

(4) Have an estimated cost of continued operation and modernization of the developments as public housing in excess of the cost of providing tenant-based assistance under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 for all families in occupancy, based on appropriate indicators of cost (such as the percentage of total development cost required for modernization). (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(5)).

(i) For purposes of this determination, the costs used for public housing shall be those necessary to produce a revitalized development as described in the paragraph (a)(5) of this section.

(ii) These costs, including estimated operating costs, modernization costs and accrual needs must be used to develop a per unit monthly cost of continuing the development as public housing.

(iii) That per unit monthly cost of public housing must be compared to the per unit monthly Section 8 cost.

(iv) Both the method to be used and an example are included in the Appendix to this part.

(5) Be identified as distressed housing that the PHA cannot assure the long-term viability as public housing through reasonable revitalization, density reduction, or achievement of a broader range of household income. (OCRA Sec. 202(a)(4)). [See § 971.5.]

(b) Properties meeting the standards set forth in paragraphs (a)(1) through (3) of this section will be assumed to be “distressed” unless the PHA can show that the property fails the standard set forth in paragraph (a)(3) of this section for reasons that are temporary in duration and are unlikely to recur.

(c) Where the PHA will demolish all of the units in a development, or the portion thereof, that is subject to section 202, section 202 requirements will be satisfied once the demolition occurs and its standards will not be applied further to the use of the site.

(d) PHAs will meet the test for assuring long-term viability of identified housing only if it is probable that, after reasonable investment, for at least twenty years (or at least 30 years for rehabilitation equivalent to new construction) the development can sustain structural/system soundness and full occupancy; will not be excessively densely configured relative to standards for similar (typically family) housing in the community; will not constitute an excessive concentration of very low-income families; and has no other site impairments which clearly should disqualify the site from continuation as public housing.