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- Under HUD's section 504 regulations, since 1988, ALL recipients of federal financial assistance must make (and should have made) 5% of newly constructed housing fully accessible for persons with mobility impairments (and another 2% accessible for persons with sensory impairments).
Most often we think only about public housing authorities. But this duty also applies to recipients of Community Development Block Grant and HOME funds, as well as other "federal financial assistance." What this means is that all local housing officials that received CDBG and HOME funds and either built new construction, or allocated these federal funds to private non-profits to build new construction, should have triggered 5% accessible dwelling units. This includes high rise apartments, low rise units, rental and many home ownership dwelling units.
- Many people do not realize that the 5% rule also applies to "substantial alterations" of dwelling units made with federal financial assistance. These are alterations and renovations made to older dwellings, including for example new electrical wiring, plumbing, roofs - more than paint jobs. When the alterations and renovations are substantial, then the 5% rule triggers-those dwellings so altered and renovation should have been made fully accessible and treated like new construction.
- Many of your local housing officials (in addition to public housing) received hundreds of millions of dollars since 1988 and "newly constructed" or "substantially altered" entirely inaccessible units! People with disabilities were discriminated against and denied the "equal opportunity" to live in 5% of the units.
This is a great organizing issue. Even if you do not now want the housing officials to go back to 1988 to make 5% of those units accessible, there is a lot local housing officials could be forced do in the future to correct the unequal treatment people with disabilities have received since 1988. Examples include: instead of 5% units in the future, make it 15 - 20% accessible; put CDBG funds in a home modification pot so people with disabilities can stay in their own (and now accessible) homes; change their building codes to require universal access; and other ideas you may have.
- Remember that the 5% rule is under section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. In addition to 504, the federal Fair Housing Act requires accessibility in other types of construction.
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