1. Site and Neighborhood Standards for RAD Conversions
Celia Carpentier
HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
July 14, 2016

2. Site Selection Requirements
Project-Based Vouchers (PBV): RAD conversions to PBV are subject to the site selection requirements for the PBV program found in 24 C.F.R. §
Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA): The site selection requirements for RAD conversions to PBRA are found in Appendix III of the RAD Notice

3. Civil Rights-Related Site Selection Requirements
The following provisions apply to all site selection, whether it involves new construction or existing housing (with or without rehabilitation), and whether it involves the placement of assistance on the existing site or the transfer of assistance to a new site.
Civil Rights Compliance: The site must be suitable from the standpoint of facilitating and furthering full compliance with the applicable provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and Executive Order 11063, and their implementing regulations.
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973: The site must meet the Section 504 site selection requirements, which, among other things, prohibit site selections that would have the purpose or effect of subjecting qualified individuals with disabilities to discrimination (see 24 C.F.R. § 8.4(b)(5)).

4. Site Selection – Civil Rights Compliance
The site must be suitable from the standpoint of facilitating and furthering full compliance with the applicable provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VIII of the Civil Rights Act of 1968, and Executive Order 11063, and their implementing regulations. Compliance with this standard includes, but is not limited to:
Compliance with the Title VI site selection requirements and requirements for remedying past discrimination, regardless of whether it was the recipient that discriminated (see 24 C.F.R. § 1.4(b)(3) and 24 C.F.R. § 1.6(b)(6)).
Compliance with the Fair Housing Act’s requirement to affirmatively further fair housing. For PHAs, this duty includes assessing whether its proposed RAD project is consistent with its certification to affirmatively further fair housing (see 24 CFR § 903.7(o)) and with any applicable Consolidated Plan, including the analysis of impediments to fair housing choice (AI) or assessment of fair housing (AFH). (see 24 C.F.R. § et seq. and 24 C.F.R. § , , or )

5. Site Selection – Section 504
The site must meet the Section 504 site selection requirements, which, among other things, prohibit site selections that would have the purpose or effect of subjecting qualified individuals with disabilities to discrimination. Some examples of factors that a recipient should consider when determining if a site meets this requirement are:
The physical characteristics of the site, such as slope, and whether they impede the accessibility of the project for persons with disabilities.
Proximity to accessible transit or para-transit.
Proximity to social services, education, and employment opportunities for persons with disabilities.
For sites with an existing project, the accessibility of the public and common use areas of the site, such as the rental office, walkways, parking areas, mail areas, trash areas, community rooms, and laundry facilities; the number and bedroom distribution of accessible units, and the physical distribution or clustering of accessible units.

6. Site Selection for New Construction
Additionally, site selection for new construction in racially mixed areas or areas of minority concentration must meet the following requirements:
Racially Mixed Area: The site must not be located in a racially mixed area if the project will cause a significant increase in the proportion of minority to non-minority residents in the area.
Area of Minority Concentration: A project may be located in an area of minority concentration only if (i) sufficient, comparable opportunities exist for housing for minority families in the income range to be served by the proposed project outside areas of minority concentration or (ii) the project is necessary to meet overriding housing needs that cannot be met in that housing market area.

7. Area of Minority Concentration
An area of minority concentration is defined as:
A neighborhood in which the percentage of persons of a particular racial or ethnic minority is at least 20 points higher than that minority's percentage in the housing market as a whole;
The neighborhood's total percentage of minority persons is at least 20 points higher than the total percentage of minorities for the housing market area as a whole; or
In the case of a metropolitan area, the neighborhood's total percentage of minority persons exceeds 50 percent of its population.

8. Sufficient, Comparable Opportunities
Comparable Units: The site selection requirements define a comparable unit as a unit that has the same household type (elderly, disabled, family, large family) and tenure type (owner/renter); require approximately the same tenant contribution towards rent; serve the same income group; are located in the same housing market; and are in standard condition.
Example: If the proposed project would serve elderly families, the PHA would need to identify units that also served elderly families.
Example: If the proposed project required tenants to pay 30% of income toward rent, the PHA would need to identify units with a similar tenant contribution.
Sufficient: “Sufficient” does not require that in every locality there be an equal number of assisted units within and outside of areas of minority concentration. Rather, application of this standard should produce a reasonable distribution of assisted units each year, that, over a period of several years, will approach an appropriate balance of housing choices within and outside areas of minority concentration. An appropriate balance in any jurisdiction must be determined in light of local conditions affecting the range of housing choices available for low-income minority families and in relation to the racial mix of the locality’s population.

9. Sufficient, Comparable Opportunities - Sufficient
To determine whether this sufficient, comparable opportunities standard is satisfied, a recipient must assess the overall impact of HUD-assisted housing on the availability of housing choices for low-income minority families in and outside areas of minority concentration. The site selection requirements provide a number of factors that a recipient must take into account, along with other factors relevant to fair housing choice.
A significant number of assisted housing units are available outside areas of minority concentration.
There is significant integration of assisted housing projects constructed or rehabilitated in the past 10 years, relative to the racial mix of the eligible population.
There are racially integrated neighborhoods in the locality.
Programs are operated by the locality to assist minority families that wish to find housing outside areas of minority concentration.
Minority families have benefited from local activities (e.g., acquisition and write-down of sites, tax relief programs for homeowners, acquisition of units for use as assisted housing units) undertaken to expand fair housing choice for minority families outside areas of minority concentration.
A significant proportion of minority households has been successful in finding units in non-minority areas under the tenant-based assistance programs.
Comparable housing opportunities have been made available outside areas of minority concentration through other programs.

10. Overriding Housing Need
A new construction project may be located in an area of minority concentration if the project is necessary to meet overriding housing needs that cannot be met in that housing market area. Application of this criterion, for example, permits approval of sites if:
Overall Local Strategy: The site is an integral part of an overall local strategy for the preservation or restoration of the immediate neighborhood; or
Significant Private Investment: The site is in a neighborhood that is experiencing significant private investment that is demonstrably improving the economic character of the area (a “revitalizing area”).

11. Overriding Housing Need – Overall Local Strategy
Overall Local Strategy: The site is an integral part of an overall local strategy for the preservation or restoration of the immediate neighborhood. An example of “an overall local strategy” would be an official, currently operational and realistically achievable plan for the improvement or revitalization of the immediate neighborhood.
Some factors to consider when determining whether a plan would meet this requirement include, but are not limited to, whether:
A plan or strategy has been enacted, adopted, or ratified by the jurisdiction’s legislative body
There has been progress in implementing the plan or strategy
The plan or strategy includes activities related to the preservation or restoration of a geography larger than the project and any associated public or assisted housing sites
The plan is incorporated in the applicable jurisdiction’s Consolidated Plan
The strategies or activities under the plan are incorporated in current public or quasi-public agency workplans
The jurisdiction has published solicitations or incentives for development projects in the improvement or revitalization area

12. Overriding Housing Need – Significant Private Investment
Significant Private Investment: The site is in a neighborhood that is experiencing significant private investment that is demonstrably improving the economic character of the area (a “revitalizing area”). Some examples of factors that a recipient should consider when determining if a site meets this requirement are:
Whether there are statistical indicators of economic improvement, such as declining census tract poverty rates, increasing median household income, increasing homeownership rates, increased employment, low or declining violent crime rates, or increased educational achievement
Whether there is high private or public investment in retail, commercial, or market-rate housing development that is already occurring or will imminently occur in the area
Whether there is recent development in the area that benefits low-income residents of the area – including grocery stores, pharmacies, medical professional buildings, community centers

13. Overriding Housing Need Is Not….
An “overriding housing need” may not serve as the basis for determining that a site is acceptable, if the only reason the need cannot otherwise be feasibly met is that discrimination on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, familial status, or disability renders sites outside areas of minority concentration unavailable (e.g., NIMBYism).
An “overriding housing need” may not serve as the basis for determining that a site is acceptable if the use of this standard in recent years has had the effect of circumventing the obligation to provide housing choice.

14. HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity
Contact Information
Celia Carpentier
Program Analyst
HUD Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity