HUD Secretary Scott Turner: The Status Quo Is Not Good Enough
(Image by Anneliese Mahoney)
WASHINGTON–Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner outlined some of his philosophy regarding his new role during the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Advocacy Conference April 8.
Front and center: Turner wants to see the “status quo” on housing change during his tenure.
He cited soaring median home prices and falling sales as two examples of the status quo.
“This data tells us we cannot keep running the same old plays, getting the same old, tired, results,” said Turner, who played nine seasons in the NFL. “We have to start calling new plays. We have to regroup. We have to understand that the status quo is not good enough.”
To combat that status quo, Turner called for building more homes in a wide range of communities, covering a variety of types ranging from single-family to multifamily and condos. He also described conducting an “inventory” of programs at HUD to determine what is and isn’t effective.
Turner further pointed to burdensome regulations as hampering progress on housing, stating that they push costs up for both multifamily and single-family housing.
“We have to decrease the cost and increase the supply; we have to unleash the power of the private sector and free market to build our way out of this housing affordability crisis,” Turner said. “We are encouraging private capital to participate in the mortgage market to support sustainable home ownership [for] hardworking Americans.”
Turner cited the proposed Trump Administration idea to use underutilized federal lands to build affordable houses. HUD is working with the Department of the Interior on efforts to identify potential opportunities on the 500 million acres of federal land it oversees, he said.
During the first Trump Administration, Turner served as the Executive Director of the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council and was a driving force behind the Opportunity Zones initiative. He’s also looking to continue that work with members of Congress, he said.
Turner said the mission of HUD, and housing policy in general, is deeply personal to him.
“I will say for myself and everyone at HUD, we actually care about the American people, we care about the mission,” Turner said. “We want people in America to achieve the American dream of homeownership and more. We want people to fulfill their potential. We’re not just a housing agency. We care about those that we serve.”
