HOUSING LEGISLATION AND HOUSING POLICY IN THE UNITED STATES

Passage by Congress of the "Emergency Relief and Construction Act of 1932" just prior to adjournment in July has served to arouse widespread hope for a revival of the construction industry as a whole, and especially those activities of the industry that are bent upon producing new housing facilities. One of the provisions of the Act authorized the Reconstruction Finance Corporation to "make loans to corporations, formed wholly for the purpose of providing housing for families of low incomes, or for reconstruction of slum areas, which are regulated by state or municipal law as to rents, charges, capital structure, rate of return, and areas and methods of operation, to aid in financing projects undertaken by such corporations which are self-liquidating in character." Thus, for the first time in the history of the country, except in a wartime emergency, the credit and funds of the federal Government are made available directly for financing housing enterprises.