Federal housing assistance can generally be categorized as  follows:  Single-family programs that provide mortgage insurance, loan  guarantees, or direct loans for homeowners and grants or loans for  home repairs or modifications;  Multifamily programs that provide loans, subsidies, mortgage insurance  or loan guarantees, or a combination of these to support the  development and rehabilitation of rental properties, including:   Production programs that provide federal funds to construct or  substantially rehabilitate units for households with extremely low to  moderate incomes; and   Mortgage insurance/loan guarantee programs that provide incentives  for lenders to finance rental housing by reducing risk;   Rental assistance programs, which can be used for multifamily and  some single-family housing and generally pay property owners the  difference between 30 percent of a household’s adjusted income and its  rent, including:   Tenant-based rental assistance that provides vouchers for eligible  tenants to rent privately owned apartments or single-family homes  and that tenants can use in new residences if they move; and   Project-based rental assistance that is attached to specific properties  and is available to tenants only when they are living in units at these  properties; and   Public housing, which is provided through HUD and offers units for  eligible tenants in properties administered by public housing authorities. USDA does not have specific goals related to the elderly in its fiscal year  2004 Annual Performance Plan. Many Housing Programs Offer Assistance for the Elderly, but Information on Their Effectiveness Is Limited

We identified a total of 23 federal housing programs that are targeted at or  have special features for the elderly: 2 that are intended for the elderly only,  3 that are targeted to the elderly and disabled, and another 18 that have  special features, such as properties designated for elderly occupants and  income adjustments that lower elderly households’ rental payments. Data on the number of elderly served are not  available for each program; however, analysis of available data shows that  the elderly occupied at least 1.3 million units provided through several of  these programs. For example, USDA’s  fiscal year 2003 report provides little useful information on the  effectiveness of USDA’s housing programs in assisting the elderly because  of the lack of specific goals and objectives related to improving housing  options for the elderly. Of the 23 housing assistance  programs that we reviewed, 4 required the owners of properties developed  under the programs to ensure that supportive services were available. HUD Has Other Programs that Assist the Elderly in Obtaining Supportive Services

While USDA does not generally provide funding for supportive services for  residents of federally assisted housing, HUD has two programs that link  residents of public and multifamily properties developed under HUD  programs to supportive services, and two that provide supportive services. The volunteer group provides a variety of services for the  residents, such as transportation. HUD and USDA Have Policies in Place to Avoid Duplicating Programs

Although the potential for duplication exists, HUD and USDA have  established policies and procedures to guide the development of  multifamily housing for the elderly in rural areas. In  addition to obtaining one another’s input on proposed developments, HUD  field office and state USDA office staffs assess the markets in areas where a  new development is proposed. Site visits to HUD and USDA field offices in  three states revealed that while staff did not consistently follow  coordination procedures, each office did analyze market conditions in the  proposed locations. Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

To determine the extent to which federal housing assistance programs  provide benefits to elderly households, we first identified the relevant  programs through a literature search, review of the Catalog of Federal  Domestic Assistance, and consultation with Department of Housing and  Urban Development (HUD) and Department of Agriculture (USDA)  officials. To determine how HUD and USDA avoid overlap and duplication in  programs that offer similar types of housing assistance to the elderly, we  first determined which programs were actively producing new units in the  same areas. The programs are organized in alphabetical order according to their  administering agency.
Why GAO Did This Study

According to the 2003 American Housing Survey sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), nearly one-third of elderly households--those whose head was age 62 or older--were experiencing housing affordability problems. Further, a congressional commission reported in 2002 that investment in affordable housing is decreasing, although the elderly population is expected to increase. A number of federal housing programs provide assistance, including rent subsidies, mortgage insurance, and loans and grants for the purchase or repair of homes, to low-income renters and homeowners. These programs are administered primarily by HUD or the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). GAO was asked to determine the extent to which federal housing programs provide benefits to elderly households, summarize information on the programs' effectiveness in assisting the elderly and supportive services, and determine how HUD and USDA avoid overlap and duplication in their programs.

What GAO Found

A total of 23 federal housing programs target or have special features for the elderly. Specifically, one HUD and one USDA program target the elderly exclusively, while three HUD programs target the elderly and disabled. The remaining 18 programs serve a variety of household types but have special features for elderly households, such as income adjustments that reduce their rents. The 13 programs for which data were available provide about 943,000 housing units designated for occupancy by the elderly. However, many programs also serve the elderly in undesignated units. Available occupancy data show that the elderly occupied at least 1.3 million units under rental assistance, public, and multifamily housing programs as of spring 2004. Information on the effectiveness of housing programs that assist the elderly is limited. HUD has an overall goal related to elderly housing, but not all individual programs that assist the elderly are explicitly linked to this goal. USDA does not have specific goals related to elderly housing. Most of the 23 housing assistance programs we reviewed are not designed to provide supportive services for the elderly. Four programs require the owners of program properties to ensure that services such as meals or transportation are available to their residents. In addition, HUD administers four programs--for example, the Service Coordinator Program--that can be used in conjunction with various housing programs to help the elderly obtain supportive services. Supportive services are also available to elderly residents of subsidized housing through partnerships between individual properties and local organizations. To avoid overlap and duplication in the development of rural housing for the elderly, HUD and USDA have established policies and procedures that require field offices from both agencies to notify their counterparts of applications to build new housing and consider each other's input on local market conditions. GAO visits to selected HUD field offices and state USDA offices revealed that staff were not consistently following these policies and procedures but were analyzing markets to ensure the need for proposed housing. Overall, however, funding and geographic constraints limit the potential for overlap and duplication in the construction of rural housing for the elderly.