what was the housing act of 1949 
the housing act of 1949 was passed to help address the decline of urban housing following the post world war ii exodus to the suburbs a part of the harry truman administration s fair deal it provided governance over how government financial resources would shape the growth of american cities specifically by increasing the fha s mortgage insurance thus making home financing and homeownership more widespread and providing federal funds for slum clearance and public housing projects committing the government to build 810 000 new units 12the consensus is that the act mostly failed in part because large scale slum clearance proved a crude and largely unworkable redevelopment method urban renewal also failed because concerns over social equity such as where to house dislocated people were inadequately addressed twenty five years after the act s passage many observers concluded that public housing and urban renewal programs were fostering the slums and blight that they were meant to eradicate however the act s homeownership goals were by and large met successfully expanding fha authorization did make it easier for many americans to own homes although fha guidelines did still discriminate against non white borrowers 