Urban Homesteading: A Good Program Needing Improvement

Because of interest by Congress, local governments, the news media, and others, a review was made of the Department of Housing and Urban Development's homesteading program. The program transfers abandoned houses in deteriorating neighborhoods that it has acquired through foreclosure to the communities. The communities, in turn, give them to individuals who must repair them and live in them for 3 years to become owners. The program has helped reduce the inventory of vacant houses owned by HUD while providing communities with the opportunity to improve their neighborhoods. It has made homeowners out of some who might not have been able to afford to buy a house.