They describe Kemp as obsessed with tangential policies and fond of quick fixes to complicated and tough issues. After all, he believes a return to the gold standard will unleash America's true economic power. At HUD, Kemp's cure-all was the idea of transferring ownership of public housing to tenants. Moreover, such transfers reduce the supply of affordable rental housing when inexpensive rental stock is already low. And they cost money.
Apartments have to be renovated before being turned over.
The numbers just don't work out. Kemp was caught in an ideological bind. But as a conservative he needed to find a different avenue than the traditional solution of government grants to citizens or to housing contractors. Kemp passing keys to excited and hopeful low-income African Americans. It provides political and social stability.