(The appendixes referred to are as follows:)

APPENDIX A

PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO H. R. 5827 RE FEDERAL INSURANCE OF URBAN RENEWAL BONDS

Amend title I of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended, by adding the following new section at the end thereof:

"SEC. The Administrator is authorized, upon such terms and conditions as he may prescribe, to guarantee the payment of principal and interest upon bonds, notes, and other obligations payable from special assessments (or special taxes in the nature of special assessments) imposed upon real estate and issued by municipalities, counties, local public agencies, or other public entities for the installation, construction, or reconstruction of streets, utilities, parks, playgrounds, and other improvements necessary for carrying out the urban renewal objectives of this title in accordance with urban renewal plans in urban renewal areas as defined by section 110 (a). The Administrator shall fix a premium charge for any guaranty undertaken under this section which shall not exceed an amount equivalent to one-half of 1 percent per annum of the amount of such bonds, notes, or other obligations for the term thereof, which charge shall be payable at such time or times and in such manner as may be prescribed by the Administrator. Contracts for such guaranties shall be deemed to be contracts for loans within the purview of subsection 102 (e) but shall not be deemed to be contracts for financial aid within the meaning of sections 105 and 109.”

EXPLANATION OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO PROVIDE FOR FEDERAL INSURANCE OF LOCAL URBAN RENEWAL BONDS

Federal loans and grants to aid urban renewal under title I of the Housing Act of 1949, as amended, can do scarcely more than scratch the surface in urban areas that need some curative action against deterioration. Cities clearly need a method of financing municipal urban renewal costs such as those for planning, public works, acquisition, and removal of adverse land uses that does not depend upon transfers of money from the Federal Treasury to the cities.

One of the first urban redevelopment actions to move from the planning stage into construction was the Lake Meadows project of a little more than 100 acres in Chicago. Acquisition of the site cost the city about $14 million. Reuse value of the site, when it was sold to an insurance company for redevelopment, was set at about $2 million. The resulting $12 million loss will be borne two-thirds by the Federal Government and one-third by the city of Chicago.

Some idea of the limited potential of this process is gained from the fact that Chicago, according to its planning commission, has a total of some 25 square miles that need some kind of corrective treatment. If you apply a Federal cost of $8 million per 100 acres to the 25 square miles in Chicago which need attention, you arrive at a Federal cost for Chicago alone of more than $1 billion, or twice as much as Congress authorized in grants for all the cities of the Nation. After studying the possibilities under this formula, President Eisenhower's Advisory Committee on Housing reported to him that if we rely on demolition alone and continue at the present rate, it will take us 200 years to get rid of the slums.

Now gaining support throughout the Nation is a proposal to fill this gap in municipal finance through the benefit assessment principle. Under this plan, a delineated urban renewal area would also be a benefit assessment district. Under State enabling legislation urban renewal costs would be assessed against owners of property in the area being benefited, with each property owner being given 10 years in which to pay his assessment. The city would launch the program by issuing neighborhood conservation benefit assessment bonds, secured by assessment liens, but not by the general faith and credit of the city.

In order to provide ready marketability for such bonds at favorable interest rates, it is proposed that they be federally insured, and that authority to issue such insurance, on the basis of an insurance premium, be placed in the HHFA Administrator through an amendment to title I of the Housing Act of 1949 as amended.

Assisting a municipality to obtain a favorable interest rate to be made available to renewal bonds will permit a more favorable interest rate to be made available to individual property owners on unpaid balances of their assessments over the

10-year period. The insurance premium of one-half of 1 percent of the amount of the bonds will provide an insurance fund out of which claims can be paid. The following data is based on returns from 209 local real-estate boards. The communities mentioned are named in terms of the jurisdiction of the local realestate board and in some instances the designation is therefore in terms of an

area.

APPENDIX B

Results of a survey by National Association of Real Estate Boards (MarchApril 1955) on enforced and voluntary demolition of unfit properties

Results of a survey by National Association of Real Estate Boards (March-April 1955) on enforced and voluntary demolition of unfit properties—Continued

To: John C. Williamson, secretary-counsel, Realtors' Washington Committee From: Charles T. Stewart, secretary, Build America Better Council

As requested, we are setting our below some of the highlights in results achieved thus far in the conservation approach to elimination of blight and slum conditions. They show the application of principles which NAREB's Build America Better Council proposes and actively advances.

Charlotte. As of April 1, 1955, 10,540 substandard houses have been brought into compliance with the local laws since the commencement of the city's enforcement program in 1948, at the urging of realtors. Also during that period, 1,413 unsalvable houses have been demolished. In that way Charlotte's housing code enforsement program has affected nearly a third of the city's housing supply. In the 6-year span, over 1,800 families from overcrowded or demolished dwellings have been relocated in rehabilitated units and privately built new units.

Cincinnati.-The city's housing division's 1954 report lists the following achievements in the realtors' supported code-enforcement program: 45,673 inspections, 2,077 buildings brought into compliance, 41 buildings condemned, 106 buildings demolished, 479 dwelling units eliminated, 970 fire escapes erected, 1,150 private toilets installed, 418 private sinks installed, 309 baths installed, 14,165 windows repaired or replaced, and 3,456 gutters and downspouts repaired or replaced. Total value of all permits issued under the city's enforcement campaign was $3.9 million.

Detroit. This city's committee for neighborhood conservation and improved housing, in which realtors take a leading part, has embarked upon one of the country's most ambitious programs of housing rehabilitation and neighborhood conservation. In a little more than a year, this 34-member group (composed equally of city officials and civic leaders) has accomplished the following: (1) Developed a comprehensive city planning approach to the neighborhood conservation problem; (2) delineated residential sections into general planning areas; (3) selected 46 neighborhood areas for analysis; (4) made block-by-block surveys of the 46 sites; (5) analyzed the social and environmental characteristics of the 46 conservation neighborhoods; (6) selected an 8-block pilot area in which all structures were inspected for housing, sanitation, and fire-prevention compliance to review and observe enforcement procedure; and (7) surveyed more than 4,000 dwelling units in 2 conservation neighborhoods with respect to facilities, maintenance, occupancy, and environment.

Kansas City, Mo.-Since 1952, city inspectors have inspected 19,980 dwelling units, issued 10,389 orders for compliance, secured 8,394 compliances, ordered 52 buildings demolished or vacated. Realtors helped establish this program. Louisville.-Among the major achievements of this city during 1954 were: (1) Establishment of a new department of housing conservation and renewal to coordinate the overall housing inspection and neighborhood conservation programs; (2) approved on July 14, 1954, a new ordinance for minimum standards for habitable buildings; (3) set up a mayor's citizens advisory committee on housing; (4) outlined 2 pilot neighborhoods for full-scale code enforcement and public works improvement; (5) held a J-day (junk day) for the 2 areas with the city furnishing trucks to haul away debris that had been littering the neighborhoods for years.

Adding impetus to the city's program has been the positive action of realtor Michael J. O'Dea, Jr., who teamed up with two builders to buy dilapidated houses for rehabilitation in neighborhood conservation areas. The trio formed a corporation and will completely rehabilitate its first single-family structure after which the house will be sold or rented. Next project for the firm will be a 2-family structure, then a 3- or 4-family unit, and on up to a group of row or party-wall houses. All the work will take place in two neighborhoods and will serve as an example of what can be accomplished through rehabilitation for the low-income occupants. For instance, the firm expects the first single-family house to rent for about $40 monthly, should they put it on the rental market.

Newark. The city has covered the major part of its 350-block area which is scheduled for house-by-house inspection, with 220 blocks completed as of April 1955. A centralized housing bureau within the city handles all dwelling inspections and turns all necessary cases over to a special housing court for handling. The court was formed at the suggestion of a citizens advisory group headed by

realtor Agnes Coleman. Plans have been made for study of modernization of local housing code.

New Orleans.-Approximately 1,500 dwelling units were rehabilitated, plus 1,500 with work in progress last year under the community's area-by-area enforcement program launched with the aid of realtors in April of 1954. It is estimated that some $5 million was spent by property owners repairing the units. This year the city expects to cause the rehabilitation of 5,000 units and plans to continue at that pace each year until the community's estimated 45,000 blighted units are in compliance with the law.

New York City.-Additional evidence that the large metropolitan cities can successfully tackle blighted neighborhoods is offered by the Nation's biggest city. Early last year New York City embarked on a permanent, citywide block-byblock law-enforcement campaign to bring dwellings into compliance with local ordinances. The city's chief magistrate estimates that by September 1955, about 100,000 dwelling units in the city will have felt the impact of the program. As of January 4, 1955, a total of 97 percent of the 3,240 property owners who were cited last July have eliminated violations. This group was given until January 4, 1955, to bring their properties into compliance. The 93 owners who failed to pass inspection were given until January 25, 1955, to make necessary repairs or face criminal complaints.

Meanwhile, during a 10-month period last year, the city's housing and buildings department made a house-by-house, block-by-block inspection covering 90 percent of the Harlem area.

In another action to combat blight and inadequate housing conditions, the mayor is urging his city council to modernize the community's multiple-dwelling law to bring it up to present-day standards. The Real Estate Board of New York recently created a committee to work with the city administration in enforcement of the laws relating to multifamily residences.

Across the river in Brooklyn, officials recently opened a drive to bring 17,000 deficient dwelling units into compliance with local housing codes.

Philadelphia.-A new comprehensive dwelling code, coupled with a far-reaching program for uplifting the city's downtown area, is the outstanding gain for this metropolitan center. In addition, the city has centered all enforcement provisions of the recently enacted code in a new department of licenses and inspections.

The Philadelphia Real Estate Board's committee on rehabilitation is working closely with the city in a public education plan on the new housing regulations, and is also helping property owners with technical advice on bringing dwellings into compliance with the law. In each of the four pilot areas of the city in which firm code enforcement is launched, the board is providing the services of a realtor who will serve with representatives of schools, churches, and health and welfare agencies on neighborhood committees designed to promote understanding and compliance with the new ordinance.

San Francisco.-Kickoff meeting of the city's newly appointed citizens participation committee for urban renewal was held on January 4. This group will spearhead San Francisco's slum-prevention and housing-rehabilitation campaign. Committee chairman is the retiring president of the San Francisco Real Estate Board. Also serving on the unit will be a widely representative group including architects, builders, lenders, labor leaders, and key city officials. Initial objectives of the group include getting the city's health, fire, and building inspection forces doubled, plus embarking on a visual education campaign to show property owners how to improve values and raise income through rehabilitation of their units.

The committee recently recommended that the city employ 10 additional health, fire, and building inspectors to help step up the slum-prevention program. Results of the city's 12-month inspection of an 18-block area were recently announced.

Inspectors surveyed 413 buildings housing 10,341 occupants. The inspectors issued 244 notices to correct housing violations on these structures, and a total of 170 buildings have been rehabilitated, 60 have been vacated, 2 demolished, 31 condemned.

In mid-December, the city commenced a block-by-block survey of a 19-block area to determine renewal needs.

Norristown, Pa.-Every 2 years for the past 6 years, Norristown realtors have volunteered their services to inspect personally the community's estimated 9,000 dwelling units to uncover possible hazards and code violations. The first inspection uncovered some 365 properties with main structure conditions or defects