The American Housing Act of 1949 () was a landmark, sweeping expansion of the federal role in mortgage insurance and issuance and the construction of public housing. It was part of President Harry Truman's program of domestic legislation, the Fair Deal.

Background

During the Roosevelt administration the National Housing Act of 1934 which established the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)von Hoffman, Alexander. 1996b. Vision Limited: The Political Movement for a U.S. Public Housing Program, 1919-1950. Working Paper Series, Harvard University, John F. Kennedy School for Government, Joint Center for Housing Studies, Taubman Center for State and Local Government. and the Housing Act of 1937 were signed into law, the latter of which directed the federal government to subsidize local public housing agencies.McDonnell, Timothy L. 1957. The Wagner Housing Act: A Case Study of Legislative Process. Chicago: Loyola University Press. On April 12, 1945, Vice President Harry Truman became president on the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Truman campaigned for a second term in the 1948 presidential election with a platform promising to provide for slum clearance and low-rent housing projects. Truman was elected to a full term in 1948 with the Democrats also reclaiming the House of Representatives and the Senate.

In his 1949 State of the Union address unveiling the Fair Deal, Truman reiterated his desire to pass comprehensive housing legislation. The Senate had successfully passed bills allocating federal aid for public housing in 1946 and 1948, although these efforts died in the House of Representatives on both occasions.

During the 81st Congress, Republican senator Robert A. Taft sponsored the legislation with Democratic backers Allen J. Ellender and Robert F. Wagner. On April 21, 1949, the Senate approved the legislation by a vote of 57–13, with all but two of the "nay" votes coming from Republicans. The House of Representatives voted 227–186 in favor of the bill on June 29, 1949. President Truman signed the bill into law on July 15, 1949.

Legislative history Date:Legislative Action:February 21, 1949Subcom on Housing & Rents, Committee on Banking & Currency February 25, 1949Reported to the SenateFebruary 25, 1949Committee on Banking & Currency Senate April 13, 1949Debated in SenateApril 21, 1949Debated, Amended, Passed SenateApril 25, 1949Referred to Committee HouseMay 3, 1949Committee on Appropriations SenateMay 9, 1949Committee on Banking & Currency HouseMay 9, 1949Made special order (H.Res.189) Debated, Amended, Pass House (81 H.R. 2203)May 16, 1949Committee on Banking & Currency House July 6, 1949Committee of Conference HouseJuly 8, 1949Conference Report (H.rp.975) Submitted in House & agreed to July 8, 1949Conference Report agreed to in SenateJuly 14, 1949Committee on Banking & Currency Senate July 14, 1949Presidential Signing Statement

Provisions

Source:Bailey, James. 1965. The Case History of a Failure. Architectural Forum 123(5):22-25.↵↵Davies, Richard. 1966. Housing Reform during the Truman Administration. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.

Title I - Slum Clearance & Community Development & Redevelopment

Authorized $1 Billion in loans to help cities acquire slums and blighted land for public or private redevelopment. It also allotted $100 million every year for five years for grants to cover two-thirds of the difference between the cost of the slum land and its reuse value.

Title II - Amendments to National Housing Act

Amended the National Housing Act of 1934 by reauthorizing the FHA for six weeks and raised by $500 million the amount the FHA was allowed to offer as mortgage insurance.

Title III - Low Rent Public Housing

Required that public housing authorities demolish or renovate one slum dwelling unit for every public housing apartment they built.

Title IV - Housing Research

Provided funds and the authority to conduct extensive research into the economics of housing construction, markets, and financing.

Title V - Farm Housing

Addressed the problems of rural housing by reorganizing and expanding the loan program initiated under the Bankhead-Johns Farm Tenant Act of 1937, which allowed farmer to purchase and improve farms.

Title VI - Miscellaneous Provisions

See also Housing Act of 1937 Section 504 loans and grants Section 514 loans Section 516 grants Section 533 grants

References

Further reading Clement, Bell. "Wagner-Steagall and the DC Alley Dwelling Authority: A Bid for Housing-Centered Urban Redevelopment, 1934–1946." Journal of the American Planning Association 78.4 (2012): 434–448. Congressional Quarterly. "Housing a Nation." (1966). Foard, Ashley A. "Law and Contemporary Problems." 25.4 (1960). Heathcott, Joseph. "The Strange Career of Public Housing: Policy, Planning, and the American Metropolis in the Twentieth Century." Journal of the American Planning Association 78.4 (2012): 360–375. Jenkins, William D. "Before Downtown: Cleveland, Ohio, and Urban Renewal, 1949-1958." Journal of Urban History 27.4 (2001): 471–496. Lang, Robert E., and Rebecca R. Sohmer. "Legacy of the Housing Act of 1949: The Past, Present, and Future of Federal Housing and Urban Policy." Housing Policy Debate (2000): 291–298. online Orlebeke, Charles J. "The Evolution of Low‐Income Housing Policy, 1949 to 1999." Housing policy debate 11.2 (2000): 489–520. Patterson, James. "Mr. Republican: A Biography of Robert A Taft." Houghton Mifflin (1972). Radford, Gail, "Modern Housing for America: Policy Struggles in the New Deal Era" (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1996). Vale, Lawrence J., "From the Puritans to the Projects: Public Housing and Public Neighbors" (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Press, 2000). Vale, Lawrence J., “Reclaiming Public Housing: A Half Century of Struggle in Three Public Neighborhoods” (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Press, 2002). von Hoffman, Alexander. "A Study in Contradictions: The Origins and Legacy of the Housing Act of 1949." Housing policy debate 11.2 (2000): 299–326. online von Hoffman, Alexander. "High Ambitions: The Past and Future of American Housing Policy". Housing Policy Debate 7.3 (1996). von Hoffman, Alexander. "The Lost History of Urban Renewal." Journal of Urbanism 1.3 (2008): 281–301.

External links Housing Act of 1949 section 2 and title V as amended (PDF/details) in the GPO Statute Compilations collection