Section 236 Rental Housing: An Assessment of HUD's Comments on GAO's Evaluations

A report issued in January 1978 comprehensively evaluated the section 236 rental assistance program and made recommendations to Congress and the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) which would ensure that moderate income households receive a reasonable share of future housing assistance. The report concluded that the section 236 program had been successful in producing quality housing units in record numbers and in providing this housing to a tenant group drastically different from the very low-income households aided by conventional public housing programs or by the section 8 leasing program. The report recommended that HUD take measures to see that moderate income households receive an equitable share of federal housing assistance and that section 236 be reactivated until a preferable alternative is developed.