Department of Housing and Urban Development January 13, 2021 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule proposes a new approach to defining and assessing housing quality: The National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE). This proposed rule is part of a broader effort across HUD to revise the way HUD-assisted housing is inspected and evaluated. The purpose of NSPIRE is to reduce regulatory burden and improve HUD oversight through the alignment and consolidation of the inspection regulations used to evaluate HUD housing across multiple programs, which are currently evaluating housing quality through differing standards, protocols, and frequencies. The goal of this alignment and consolidation is to create a unified assessment of housing quality. In advancement of HUD's mission to create quality affordable housing and strong, sustainable, and inclusive communities, this rule would establish the method HUD will use for the implementation of specific NSPIRE standards, scoring, and processes through Federal Register notices. Additionally, the proposed rule seeks to apply a ``safe, habitable dwellings'' standard; reduce the categories of current inspectable areas for physical condition standards for covered housing programs from five to three; implement a new annual self-inspection and reporting requirement for certain HUD housing; establish an administrative process for the treatment of health and safety deficiencies; and incorporate provisions of the Economic Growth and Recovery, Regulatory Relief and Consumer Protection Act that will reduce administrative burden on small rural PHAs.