Evening star., 1937-02-13
REQU|REMENTSSET.
FOR SUBDIVISIONS
F. H. A. Executive Cites
Seven Rules to Qualify
for Approval.

Seven requirements for subdivisions
seeking approval of the Federal Hous-
Ing Administration as insurable COM
munities under the national housing
act, were outlined here today by Miles
L. Colean, technical director. The
growing importance of the community
itself in the single mortgage system Of
home financing calls for Qualification.
Colean said, of the factors that make
any subdivision eligible.
The seven requirements are: 1.
Convincing evidence of a healthy and
active demand for homes Of the type
contemplated and at the prices asked.
2. Suitable site. 3. Easy access by
means of transportation and adequate
highways to schools, employment and
shopping centerS. 4. Installation Of
appropriate and sufficient utilities and
street improvements. S. Compliance
with plans and regulations of city,
county or regional plan in cases where
such subdivisions fall within the juris-
diction Of any of these. 6. Appro-
pirate deed restrictions. /. A sound
financial setup.
Must Meet Requirements.
1naSmuch, Colean said, as the factor
OF neighborhood looms large in the
risk-rating procedure of the Federal
Housing Administration, it is necessary
that homes eligible for mutual mort
gage insurance be located in COM
munities that meet these require
mentS.
1T is only by constantly developing
areas" he said, (which are ripe for
use, by reorganizing subdivisions which
suffer from planning and financial
and legal encumbrances and by post
poning or abandoning the building up
of subdivisions which are premature
or plainly superfuous, that a stable
realty condition can be established
which will justify mortgage lending
and the insurance of mortgages in any
neighborhood.
THE seven requirements referred
to here are the minimum require
mentS that must be conformed to.
From this point on we must endeavor
to secure as many of the desirable
standards as possible. These de-
sirables are recommendations, not re-
quirements. However, if some of them
were notably lacking. approval would
be withheld until the conditions were
corrected. These include careful
adapting of the subdivision layout to
the topography and to natural fea.
lures; the adjustment of the street
plan and street width and grades to
meet best the traffic needs; long
blocks, with the consequent elimina-
tion Of unnecessary streets: a care
fully studied lot plan with generous
and well-shaped house sites, and parks
and Fairgrounds and the establish
ment Of community organizations of
property owners.
Sale of Homes Evidence.
"These minimum requirements and
desirable standards are the elements
that we believe must be present to
insure the orderly growth of our
cities and the development of stable
and desirable neighborhoods. The
recognition Of the factors that create
sound real estate values and setting
them down as requirements was our
first step. The second was the estab-
lishment of a procedure for apply
ing them.
"One Of the most frequent Short
comings Is lack of convincing evidence
OF healthy demand. Statistics of
population growth and similar data
are not always satisfactory. The
surest way in which the demand
can be demonstrated is by the actual
construction and sale of homes.
Therefore, in many cases we will agree
to make commitments in subdivisions,
providing that a certain number of
homes are actually constructed and
sold. In this way the Housing Ad-
ministration is protected against the
risks which are always present when
pioneering in a new area, and the
developer is given the assurance that
If his project is sound, funds for the
erection of dwellings on easy terms
will be provided.
I'm our criticism Of the lot and
road layout we frequently recommend
that qualified land planners or en-
gineers be employed. Where it is
difficult to describe the changes de-
sired we sometimes make rough
sketches indicating the manner in
which the layout can be improved.
The results of this procedure to date
are highly gratifying.
Approximately 20 per cent of the
subdivisions we approved conditionally
UP to December l, 1885, have con-
formed to our conditions and commit
ments to insure are being made in
them"