Evening star., 1936-05-16
TRENDS IN HOUSING
WATCHED BYF.H.A A.
Property Standards Held OF
Prime Importance in
Making Loans.

WQNHIS 6VotISs
Minimum porperty standards re-
ouired for dwellings insurable under
the terms of the national housing act
are designed to provide assurance
that the property on which the
mortgage is executed, Is economically
sound, at the same time encouraging
improvement in housing standards
and conditions, according to Miles L.
Colean, director of the technical divi-
sion of the Federal Housing Admins
tration.
In dealing with long term mort
cages, he said, it Is necessary to take
a far sighted view of the security and
of the factors which influence its
preservation. The property must be
the ultimate basis of security, he
stated, and its physical characteristics
must be such as to presume desirable
ity and durability far into the future.
"The standards set up by the Ad-
ministration," he said. must pro-
vide for dwellings which are sub
6IdIlIldl dIlu dblC AA ctA aSeoAS ~
convenient and efficient in arrange
ment, attractive in appearance and
appropriate in their neighborhood
setting. They must be carefully con-
sidered in relation to visible trends IN
housing development so as to offer
protection not only against undue
physical deterioration but also against
the obsolescence which may be
threatened by prospective changes in
habits of living. It is also important
that they require that these dwellings
shall be located only in neighborhoods
which possess, in considerable degree,
security from those disintegrating in
fiuences which are more certain than
defects in the buildings themselves
to destroy property values.
Modest House Covered.
"This does not mean that only high.
priced dwellings in high-priced neigh
borhoods will be eligible for insured
mortgages. On the other hand, the
minimum requirements of the admin.
istration have been drawn up with the
modest dwelling and the modest
neighborhood in view. There is MOTH
ing in these requirements which make
building expensive, but it is intended
through them to make the building Of
low w-priced, as well as expensive, dwell
tngs sound and honest.
THE Federal Housing Administra-
ton, as the custodian of funds accum-
ulated from insurance premiums. must
eliminate, so far as possible, the risks
to which these funds may be subjected.
The mortgage insurance facilities Of
the Federal Housing Administration
may be made available, therefore. only
to those properties whose prospects of
continued utility are sufficiently good
to give assurance Of their enduring as
sound investments throughout the life
of the mortgage.
Responsibility in mortgage invest
ment extends beyond consideration
of specific property. A converted two
fiat building or boarding house in a
block of single family dwellings. q par
tial commercial use, may appear to
offer even augmented security over
that of surrounding properties Of lowe,
earning power. Yet the encourage.
ment Of such conforming use may
halt a continuation Of an established
trend Of development. cause owners te
be discouraged with their own invest
sments and, consequently, decrease
mortgage security over wide area.
Protection Is Required.
TN order to accomplish the objec-
tives Of the national housing act. the
Federal Housing Administration must
guard against the creation of condi-
tions tending to aggravate future
housing problems. Mortgage insurance
therefore, may be made available only
when a property is of a character
which will not induce neighborhood
blight or threaten to influence ad.
versely mortgage security in neighbor-
ing properties.
There are many factors which
may help to promote high volume
OF building, but among these, none
Is more important in a well ordered
market than the confidence of thu
public in the product which it buys
0ANAk NO44A4ACA4NC Ne1lA4AOG VIC VI
through investment in dwelling.
which rapidly deteriorate and which
are otherwise found to be lackinf
In those qualities which can make
the investment one of permanent
satisfaction. passing boom may bs
based upon exploitation, but a stead,
market can result only from sount
value.
1.-THE Federal Government, with it.
responsibility to the future as vel
Is to the present, cannot afford t,
adopt such a policy. It cannot plac.
the special interest Of individuals O,
groups above the general interest o
the public, and especially of tina
part Of the public which most look
to 1t for protection. The future sound
ness Of the building industry depend
IN large measure. upon the confidence
OF the public In the building in
dustry and In those agencies of Gov
ernment related to home building an.
home finance. Only through reuuir
ing that homes for all classes o
the people be honestly built and tina
ut least minimum protection b
assured to their investments, may tina
confidence be created and maintained
THE Federal causing Administra
don does not prcsose q standard t
build down to, but one to build vi
from. Through the exercise of 1t
authority to insure mortgages, it dis
tinctly seeks good housing in stabl
surroundings - housing which
reasonable security for long tern
mortgages, which will helpfully in
nuence mortgage security general,