"A Decent Home"

This week Dwight Eisenhower turned his attention to housing, sent Congress a message placing the federal housing program on a new foundation. The President's long-range aim: to enable every American family to have a "decent home."

As a temporary measure, the President proposed that the Federal Government build 35,000 living units a year in low-rent housing developments, 15,000 a year more than the present rate. But he called for an experimental program under which the Government would encourage low-income families to buy their own homes, instead of moving into Government-built projects. The plan would be limited to families displaced by public projects such as slum clearance. It would involve lower down payments and longer-term mortgages, insured by the Government, on low-cost houses. The President gave no specific figures, but his housing advisory committee recently proposed no down payments and 40-year mortgages, which in many cases would make payments lower than rent (TIME, Dec. 14).

Laying down a policy of "leadership," the President proposed that the Federal Government's direct role in housing be decreased and its indirect role be increased. He would reorganize the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fanny May") to turn most of its operations in the secondary mortgage market over to private capital. But he would broaden the Federal Government's role as an insurer of housing loans, where it stands behind the industry and the owner. To preserve existing houses, he would have the Government liberalize the terms on which it will insure loans for purchase and repair of older houses. Where local communities are doing their share, he would increase the Federal Government's grants and loans for slum clearance and rehabilitation.

When all of Dwight Eisenhower's proposed expenditures and income from the housing program (including the sale of Fanny May mortgages) are balanced, his housing budget for fiscal 1955 shows a startling final figure: a net gain to the Federal Government of $277 million.

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