HUD AFFH Guidebook, AFH Assessment Tool and Mapping Tool Now Available - Jan 13, 2016

On December 31, after two rounds of public comments, HUD issued the Assessment Tool form that local governments must use to submit an Assessment of Fair Housing (AFH) under the new Affirmatively Further Fair Housing (AFFH) rule.  (HUD will issue a separate Tool for states, public housing agencies and Insular Areas). 

HUD also issued a public data and mapping tool (and User’s Guide) with 17 maps and 15 data tables by region and jurisdiction for use in preparing (or commenting on) local AFHs and an AFFH Rule Guidebook that outlines the rule and the AFH process in great detail.  As the Poverty and Race Research Action Council (PRRAC) notes, the Tool and Guidebook include discussions of the relationship between fair housing and schools, transportation, environmental health, and employment access and present “real opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, both in the community engagement process and among state and local government agencies.”   The National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) has posted an excellent summary of the new materials, along with background information on who must submit an AFH and when and links to many related resources.