Skip to main content

Housing

Jump To:

Recent Reports

View More Reports

Open Recommendations

Homelessness: Agency Actions Could Improve Data on Shelter Program Use
GAO-26-107502
Jan 22, 2026
Show
3 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should increase the transparency of HUD's usability determinations by adopting clear criteria for how data quality flags should be applied in those decisions. To the extent that subjective judgment is used, HUD should document the reasons for its decisions. (Recommendation 1)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should reevaluate the statistical methods used to estimate shelter use to assess whether alternative imputation methods could more accurately reflect the uncertainty of its estimates. (Recommendation 2)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should communicate the rationales for HUD's usability determinations to Continuums of Care, such as by providing information on which data quality flags are considered higher or lower priority. (Recommendation 3)
Open
When we confirm what actions the agency has taken in response to this recommendation, we will provide updated information.

Military Housing: DOD Should Address Critical Supply and Affordability Challenges for Service Members
GAO-25-106208
Oct 30, 2024
Show
6 Open Recommendations
1 Priority
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment clarifies the Office of the Secretary of Defense's (OSD) role in oversight of the military services' Housing Requirements and Market Analysis (HRMA) process in guidance to help ensure that the military services conduct HRMAs in a timely manner and that DOD submits to Congress required lists of planned HRMAs for each fiscal year. (Recommendation 1)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. DOD provided a corrective action plan in December 2025 that states that the department will issue guidance that clarifies OSD's role in the HRMA process and emphasizes the responsibility of the military departments to conduct HRMAs in a timely manner and the requirement to include planned HRMAs in their budget materials. Officials also stated that the department is also exploring opportunities for collaboration with the Department of Housing and Urban Development on HRMA development. Officials stated that the department will require additional time for coordination with the military departments, and they estimate completing these actions by March 2026. We will continue to monitor steps taken by DOD to address this recommendation.
Department of Defense
Priority Rec.
The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, performs a structured analysis to develop a comprehensive list of critical housing areas. In conducting analysis to develop this list, DOD should consider the unique characteristics of a location, such as vacation rental areas. (Recommendation 2)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. DOD provided a corrective action plan in December 2025 that states that the department will perform a structured analysis to develop a comprehensive list of critical housing areas. Officials stated they are finalizing the list of designated critical housing areas and comprehensive guidance that includes robust tools that address the impacts of service members who are moving to these challenging markets. Officials estimate completing these actions by May 2027. We will continue to monitor steps taken by DOD to address this recommendation.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness, regularly updates the list of identified critical housing areas. (Recommendation 3)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. DOD provided a corrective action plan in December 2025 that states that the department will update, as needed, the list of identified critical housing areas by July 2027. We will continue to monitor steps taken by DOD to address this recommendation.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the military services, obtains and uses feedback on the financial and quality-of-life effects of limited supply or unaffordable housing on service members, through the Status of Forces survey and other service or installation-specific feedback mechanisms. (Recommendation 4)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. DOD provided a corrective action plan in December 2025 that states that the department has incorporated questions concerning the physical condition, affordability, and availability of housing into the Status of Forces survey to identify and evaluate the financial and quality-of-life challenges associated with living in areas with limited or unaffordable housing. Officials stated that it is the department's goal to leverage Critical Housing Area Policy guidance that is under development to also determine service or installation-specific feedback mechanisms to collect feedback on the financial and quality-of-life effects of limited supply or unaffordable housing on service members. Officials estimate completing these actions by May 2027. We will continue to monitor steps taken by DOD to address this recommendation.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment, in coordination with the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the military services, develops a plan for how the department can respond to and address the financial and quality-of-life effects in critical housing areas once those areas are identified, such as through feasible solutions to increase housing supply or through additional strategies such as alternative compensation. (Recommendation 5)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. DOD provided a corrective action plan in December 2025 that states that the department will develop an action plan to address the financial and quality-of-life challenges associated with living in a critical housing area. The department is in the process of finalizing the list of designated critical housing areas. Officials estimate completing these actions by July 2027. We will continue to monitor steps taken by DOD to address this recommendation.
Department of Defense The Secretary of Defense should ensure that the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Energy, Installations, and Environment provides updated guidance to the services on how installations should coordinate with local communities, including clearly defining the roles and responsibilities of installation commanders and military housing offices in addressing housing needs. (Recommendation 6)
Open
DOD concurred with this recommendation. DOD provided a corrective action plan in December 2025 that states that the department will issue updated guidance to the military departments that emphasizes the need for installations to coordinate with local communities and clearly defines the roles and responsibilities of installation commanders and military housing offices in addressing housing needs. Officials stated they are currently coordinating with the military departments and estimate completing these actions by March 2026. We will continue to monitor steps taken by DOD to address this recommendation.

Rental Housing: Opportunities Exist to Improve Oversight of Assistance to Survivors of Domestic Violence or Sexual Assault
GAO-24-106481
Jul 11, 2024
Show
7 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure the Director on Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Equity finalizes a revised model emergency transfer plan that meets all VAWA regulatory requirements. (Recommendation 1)
Open
We are monitoring HUD's efforts to address this recommendation.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure the Assistant Secretary for PIH provides written instructions to PHAs, such as through notices or frequently asked questions, on how to implement emergency transfers, including information related to external transfers and coordination. (Recommendation 2)
Open
We are monitoring HUD's efforts to address this recommendation.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing provides written instructions to PBRA providers, such as through notices or frequently asked questions, on how to implement emergency transfers, including information related to external transfers and coordination. (Recommendation 3)
Open
In July 2025, HUD officials said they were in the process of updating its Multifamily Asset Management and Project Servicing handbook to include a new chapter on all VAWA requirements and protections (including information on emergency transfers) with a target completion date of December 31, 2025. Officials said they also anticipate providing VAWA training and technical assistance to PBRA providers in 2025.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Multifamily Housing revises the management and occupancy review form (HUD-9834) to incorporate specific questions on PBRA properties' compliance with VAWA emergency transfer requirements. (Recommendation 4)
Open
In July 2025, HUD officials said they are in the process of finalizing a revised management and occupancy review form (HUD-9834) that includes specific questions on PBRA properties' compliance with VAWA emergency transfer requirements. These questions will be included as a "VAWA Addendum" section of the form. HUD officials anticipate the revised form will be finalized by September 30, 2025.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure the Director on Gender-Based Violence Prevention and Equity finalizes a regulation implementing the compliance review requirements of VAWA 2022, including defining standards of compliance and standards for corrective action plans. (Recommendation 5)
Open
We are monitoring HUD's efforts to address this recommendation.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure the Assistant Secretary for PIH develops and implements a plan, including a timeline, for PIH to collect the required data on emergency transfers from PHAs. (Recommendation 6)
Open
We are monitoring HUD's efforts to address this recommendation.

HUD Rental Assistance: Improved Guidance and Oversight Needed for Utility Allowances
GAO-24-105532
Jun 27, 2024
Show
5 Open Recommendations
Agency Affected Recommendation Status
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing and the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research develop a plan to solicit feedback on usability challenges that PHAs may face using HUSM. (Recommendation 1)
Open
In July 2024, HUD contracted with the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory to update HUSM using the 2021 Residential Energy Consumption Survey data. The work includes conducting a model validation test with selected PHAs. In July 2025, HUD told us the contractor intends to ask the PHAs about any issues with model usability during the testing to improve the model's user-friendliness. Additionally, in March 2025, HUD added a link at the bottom of the HUSM webpage to solicit questions, feedback, and suggestions for improving HUSM. We will update the status of the recommendation once the HUSM validation test is completed and HUD provides documentation on the contractor's approach for soliciting feedback from PHAs on model usability.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing works with the Customer Experience Division to make utility allowance guidance more available and accessible on HUD's website, including by improving website navigability and optimizing the search bar. (Recommendation 2)
Open
As of July 2025, HUD has not taken actions to address our recommendation.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing includes feedback mechanisms and HUD contact information in utility allowance guidance or on HUD guidance web pages for PHAs. (Recommendation 3)
Open
As of July 2025, HUD has not taken actions to address our recommendation.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing takes initial steps toward collecting PHAs' utility allowance schedules for the Public Housing program, such as determining how existing IT systems could be leveraged or modified to capture the information, defining the content and format of PHA reporting, and estimating associated costs. (Recommendation 4)
Open
As of July 2025, HUD has not taken actions to address our recommendation.
Department of Housing and Urban Development The Secretary of HUD should ensure that the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing develops mechanisms to regularly analyze utility allowance data for patterns that indicate a risk of noncompliance with HUD requirements and incorporates such analysis into monitoring reviews of PHAs. (Recommendation 5)
Open
As of July 2025, HUD has not taken actions to address our recommendation.
View More Recommendations

Related Pages

GAO Contacts

Multimedia

Podcasts

Military Service Members and Families Struggle with Housing in Increasingly Competitive Markets
Transcript
For Those Fleeing Domestic Violence, Rental-Assisted Housing Transfers Could Be Months Away
Transcript
Did Housing Protections Under the CARES Act Work?
Transcript