Abstract

Back to the "Old Deal" in Housing

The article focuses on reforms in housing laws in the U.S. A housing program had been inserted in the National Industrial Recovery Act. Under the provisions of the recovery act a Housing Division was created as part of the Public Works Administration. This division was placed under the direction of Robert D. Kohn, a man with broad experience in large-scale building and with a social point of view. As the Housing Division was set up essentially as an instrumentality for developing limited-dividend housing schemes with federal aid, the question of interest rates and amortization periods on federal loans was destined to be the chief factor in establishing rental rates and, in consequence, the level of the income group to be housed in the new dwellings.