Housing Act of 1961

Housing Act of 1961
Long title	An Act to assist in the provision of housing for moderate and low income families, to promote orderly urban development, to extend and amend laws relating to housing, urban renewal, and community facilities, and for other purposes.
Enacted by	the 87th United States Congress
Citations
Public law	87-70
Statutes at Large	75 Stat. 149
Codification
Acts amended	National Housing Act of 1934
Legislative history
	Introduced in the Senate as S. 1922 on May 19, 1961; Committee consideration by Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs; Passed the Senate on June 12, 1961 (Passed); Passed the House on June 22, 1961 (Passed); Signed into law by President John F. Kennedy on June 30, 1961;

The Housing Act of 1961 (Pub. L. 87–70, 75 Stat. 149) was a United States federal statute enacted by the 87th United States Congress and signed into law on June 30, 1961 by President John F. Kennedy.^[1] It is the primary housing legislation passed during his tenure.

The Act authorized nearly $4.2 billion ($47 billion in CPI-inflation adjusted dollars) in federal grants and loans for housing construction and urban public works programs, as well as a "discretionary" sum of $1.5 billion in new mortgage buying authority for the Federal National Mortgage Association. This sum covered rental subsidies and funding for local authorities to construct 100,000 units of public housing, $75 million for new housing for the elderly, $1.2 billion in loans for the construction of college dormitories, new loans for home improvement, an extension and expansion of existing loan programs for farm and nonfarm rural housing, $450 million in low-interest loans for water management-related public works, and $2 billion in matching grants for urban renewal and slum clearance, covering up to two-thirds of the cost of rehabilitation. The Act also permitted the trialling of new low-interest, FHA-insured loans to nonprofit corporations, co-operatives and local public agencies to build moderate-income housing.^[2]

References

↑ Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Remarks Upon Signing the Housing Act". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara. Retrieved August 4, 2026.
↑ Braestrup, Peter (July 1, 1961). "Kennedy Signs Bill To Provide Housing For 'the Forgotten'; PRESIDENT SIGNS HOUSING MEASURE". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2025. Retrieved August 4, 2026.

[1] Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Remarks Upon Signing the Housing Act". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara. Retrieved August 4, 2026.

[2] Braestrup, Peter (July 1, 1961). "Kennedy Signs Bill To Provide Housing For 'the Forgotten'; PRESIDENT SIGNS HOUSING MEASURE". The New York Times. Archived from the original on December 8, 2025. Retrieved August 4, 2026.

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See also

References