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U.S. Code as of:
01/19/04
Section 1441. Congressional declaration of national housing policy
The Congress declares that the general welfare and security of
the Nation and the health and living standards of its people
require housing production and related community development
sufficient to remedy the serious housing shortage, the elimination
of substandard and other inadequate housing through the clearance
of slums and blighted areas, and the realization as soon as
feasible of the goal of a decent home and a suitable living
environment for every American family, thus contributing to the
development and redevelopment of communities and to the advancement
of the growth, wealth, and security of the Nation. The Congress
further declares that such production is necessary to enable the
housing industry to make its full contribution toward an economy of
maximum employment, production, and purchasing power. The policy to
be followed in attaining the national housing objective established
shall be: (1) private enterprise shall be encouraged to serve as
large a part of the total need as it can; (2) governmental
assistance shall be utilized where feasible to enable private
enterprise to serve more of the total need; (3) appropriate local
public bodies shall be encouraged and assisted to undertake
positive programs of encouraging and assisting the development of
well-planned, integrated residential neighborhoods, the development
and redevelopment of communities, and the production, at lower
costs, of housing of sound standards of design, construction,
livability, and size for adequate family life; (4) governmental
assistance to eliminate substandard and other inadequate housing
through the clearance of slums and blighted areas, to facilitate
community development and redevelopment, and to provide adequate
housing for urban and rural nonfarm families with incomes so low
that they are not being decently housed in new or existing housing
shall be extended to those localities which estimate their own
needs and demonstrate that these needs are not being met through
reliance solely upon private enterprise, and without such aid; and
(5) governmental assistance for decent, safe, and sanitary farm
dwellings and related facilities shall be extended where the farm
owner demonstrates that he lacks sufficient resources to provide
such housing on his own account and is unable to secure necessary
credit for such housing from other sources on terms and conditions
which he could reasonably be expected to fulfill. The Department of
Housing and Urban Development, and any other departments or
agencies of the Federal Government having powers, functions, or
duties with respect to housing, shall exercise their powers,
functions, and duties under this or any other law, consistently
with the national housing policy declared by this Act and in such
manner as will facilitate sustained progress in attaining the
national housing objective hereby established, and in such manner
as will encourage and assist (1) the production of housing of sound
standards of design, construction, livability, and size for
adequate family life; (2) the reduction of the costs of housing
without sacrifice of such sound standards; (3) the use of new
designs, materials, techniques, and methods in residential
construction, the use of standardized dimensions and methods of
assembly of home-building materials and equipment, and the increase
of efficiency in residential construction and maintenance; (4) the
development of well-planned, integrated, residential neighborhoods
and the development and redevelopment of communities; and (5) the
stabilization of the housing industry at a high annual volume of
residential construction.
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