The District of Columbia Needs a Program To Identify Vacant Houses and Get Them Back on the Market

Vacant houses represent a serious problem in the midst of a housing shortage in the District of Columbia. Although the District has been talking about vacant housing for a long time, it has done little to return such housing to the real estate market. The principal reasons are that the District had neither: complete and accurate data on the number, location, and physical condition of vacant houses; a system to develop such information; nor a specific program to return such vacant houses to use.