The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, is a federal government agency which was established in 1965. According to its web site, HUD works to promote community development, improve the availability of non-discriminatory low cost housing, and raise the level of home ownership. It provides various housing related programs and grants to promote these aims. HUD also subsidizes the cost of renting an apartment for some people with disabilities or low levels of income.

The Federal Housing Administration is part of HUD. It offers insurance on mortgages taken out by qualifying individuals, including reverse mortgages for senior home owners. The FHA makes it less difficult for first-time home buyers, people buying homes which need repair, and others to obtain a mortgage. FHA also offers to insure a type of mortgage which includes the costs (up to eight-thousand dollars, depending upon the home’s value) of making a home more energy efficient.

Another division of HUD is the Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. Its web site indicates that the FHEO works to stop discrimination with regard to housing. Among other activities, it enforces anti-discrimination laws and distributes public service announcements against housing discrimination. Complaints of discrimination can be submitted to them.

Homes can also be purchased from HUD. According to their web site, these are homes which have been foreclosed upon and were insured by the FHA. Because they insure the mortgages, it is their responsibility to sell foreclosed-upon properties. Initially, these properties are only offered to buyers who plan to live in them, but anyone can purchase them after this phase. The separate web sites which list these homes in each state can be found through the HUD site.

HUD works to assist homeless people as well. It helps fund shelters, subsidizes the cost of rent for single rooms the homeless can move into, and supports assistance agencies which offer various services to benefit the homeless. They also operate programs to help veterans who are homeless.

Efforts by the Department to promote community development include various grants and assistance in aiding communities to recover from natural disasters. It helps fund the Youthbuild program, which provides building construction training to young people. The training is applied to create or improve low-income housing.

Other examples of what HUD does include insuring home improvement loans, funding agencies which provide housing counseling, and providing housing-related informational resources.