5/16/2014
National Center for Healthy Housing and American Public Health Association
Release National Healthy Housing Standard
New standard provides clear recommendations to improve healthy and safe housing conditions
in communities across the United States
WASHINGTON, DC (May 16, 2014) - Today, key public health and housing leaders, including U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Shaun Donovan, gathered in Washington, D.C. for the unveiling of a new National Healthy Housing Standard. The National Center for Healthy Housing (NCHH) and the American Public Health Association (APHA) developed the Standard, a health-focused property maintenance policy targeting the nation’s 100 million existing homes: single-family, multifamily, rental, and owner-occupied. The Standard can be adopted as a regulation by government agencies and as a voluntary best practice by any property owner.
“While we have made great strides in improving the quality of housing nationwide, too many Americans are left making the false choice between affordable or quality housing. Families deserve access to quality and affordable housing that allows them to put down roots in a community, build wealth, put kids through college and start businesses,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “The National Healthy Housing Standard represents a needed step in improving housing conditions for all of our nation’s citizens, regardless of their zip code. This standard can serve as a model that housing and development officials can adopt to keep families safe in the home.”
In September, 2013, NCHH found that 35 million (or 40 percent) of metropolitan homes in the U.S. have one or more health and safety hazards as reported in the State of Healthy Housing, a comprehensive study of housing conditions in 46 metropolitan areas of the nation. That study draws on data from the American Housing Survey, which found that approximately 6.3 million housing units are considered to be substandard – a statistic that has remained relatively static for over a decade.
Read the full press release.