The US Department of Housing and Urban Development now has the authority to inspect public housing under the final rule for the National Standards for the Physical Inspection of Real Estate, or NSPIRE.
The NSPIRE final rule was effective July 1 for public housing and will be effective Oct. 1 for the remaining HUD rental assistance programs such as those offered by affordable senior housing providers. The rule contains “a few big wins” for affordable senior housing providers, according to Linda Couch, vice president, housing policy, LeadingAge, the association of nonprofit providers of aging services.
In a statement Friday, HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said, “The purpose of the new standards and inspections are [sic] to address the issue of substandard rental properties, promote greater compliance with health and safety standards, and preserve the quality of our country’s neighborhoods and available housing.”
HUD said that NSPIRE is meant to improve the agency’s oversight by aligning and consolidating inspection regulations used to evaluate HUD housing across multiple programs. The agency said that NSPIRE strengthens HUD’s physical condition standards, formerly known as the Uniform Physical Condition Standard, or UPCS, and the Housing Quality Standards, or HQS. HUD’s Real Estate Assessment Center, or REAC, conducts the inspections of HUD-assisted properties in the public and multifamily housing programs.
HUD published the final NSPIRE rule May 11, the final standards notice on June 22 and the administrative notice on June 30 and before publishing the final scoring notice on Friday.
Couch told McKnight’s Senior Living that “LeadingAge has been actively involved in advocacy related to the NSPIRE process” and that HUD “heard us and, better yet, took some of our suggestions into account in the proposed scoring notice and implemented them in the final scoring notice.”
Among the “big wins” for providers, Couch said:
- HUD softened the removal of the point-loss cap.
- HUD acknowledged that owners have the least control over standards scored in resident units and expanded the list of in-unit items that would not get a numerical score (but would be noted and have to be corrected).
- HUD agreed to a phase-in of the scoring of new safety standards.
“Many LeadingAge members participated in the NSPIRE demonstration, and we look forward to HUD getting inspectors and more members trained consistently for when these new standards and scoring go into effect for our members Oct. 1,” Couch said.
For more information about NSPIRE, visit the NSPIRE homepage and view videos on the NSPIRE YouTube page. Questions about NSPIRE can be sent to this e-mail address: [email protected].
