The Office of Policy Development and Research was established in 1973, in accordance with the statutory citation in Title V of the 1970 Housing and Urban Development Act, which authorized programs of “research, studies, testing, and demonstrations” to benefit HUD in achieving its mission of increasing home ownership and access to affordable housing free from discrimination. In the 1990s PD&R was also given responsibility for assisting in regulation of the government-sponsored enterprises that comprise the secondary mortgage market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and in promoting university/community partnerships through technical assistance and grants.

The PD&R staff is made up of economists, engineers, planners, policy experts, and social scientists who provide technical oversight to the HUD teams making policy decisions and preparing budget and legislative proposals.

• Conducting research on housing and community development issues, and maintaining the most current information and statistics on existing housing programs and needs, market conditions, and urban development, including the American Housing Survey, State of the Cities Data Systems, data on the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, and annual publication of fair market rents, which are used as a standard for determining rent and subsidy levels in HUD programs and as a measure of the local cost of affordable housing.
• Supporting and managing HUD User, an in-depth downloadable information source for housing and community development executives, academicians, policymakers, and the American public, as the primary vehicle for federal government reports and other material on housing policies and programs, economic development, and urban planning.
• Assisting in the program regulation of the government-sponsored enterprises that comprise the secondary mortgage market, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, primarily setting their affordable housing goals, and monitoring their performance.
• Overseeing the administration of all PD&R grants and cooperative agreements for research, development and experimentation; reviewing and monitoring all contract work performed for PD&R; and handling preparation and administration of the PD&R program budget.
• Running the Office of University Partnerships (OUP), which oversees a variety of grant programs to facilitate the formation of campus-community collaborations that will enable university students, faculty, and neighborhood organizations to work together to help generate jobs, revitalize the economy, and rebuild healthy communities.
• Managing the HUD component of the Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), a federal interagency and industry partnership that aims to make American housing more affordable, safe, energy-efficient, and disaster-resistant.
• Coordinating out of the Office of International Affairs HUD’s involvement in international conferences and issues, including designing and managing cooperative information exchange programs in housing and urban policy issues, in tandem with the State Department and American Embassies and Missions abroad, as well as sponsoring international research and forums on topics like housing finance, building technology, and urban reinvestment.
• Administering the Jobs-Plus welfare-to-work demonstration project, which provides intensive employment-focused programs targeting working age welfare recipients in public housing developments in Baltimore, Chattanooga, Cleveland, Dayton, Los Angeles, St. Paul, and Seattle, with residents playing a role in designing and managing the program, which aims to significantly increase employment and income of public housing residents in those cities.

Research Information Service

2009 Summary Statement and Initiatives

How HUD Mortgage Policy Fed the Crisis (by Carol D. Leonnig, Washington Post)