WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Scott Turner spent last week unveiling a sweeping series of actions that signal one of the most aggressive overhauls of federal housing policy in years, as the Trump administration seeks to expand homeownership, bolster affordability, respond to disaster-stricken communities, and restructure the nation’s approach to homelessness. From Atlanta’s booming redevelopment zones to the storm-battered communities of western Alaska, Turner highlighted an agenda that merges tax policy, regulatory reform, disaster relief, and social services into a consolidated drive to transform how Americans access housing.
Turner’s week began with a high-profile visit to Centennial Yards, a massive 50-acre redevelopment project in downtown Atlanta that has become a centerpiece of the administration’s push to revitalize Opportunity Zones. Two days later, HUD announced that more than a million Americans had gained a pathway to homeownership this year with help from the Federal Housing Administration and Ginnie Mae. On Friday, the department detailed expansive federal relief for communities hit hard by severe storms and remnants of Typhoon Halong, before closing the week with Turner’s first interview outlining historic reforms to HUD’s Continuum of Care homelessness program.
Taken together, the announcements reflect a department moving at full throttle, reshaping federal involvement in housing markets and disaster recovery while rolling back models it argues have failed the most vulnerable Americans. Turner and key stakeholders portrayed the week’s developments as a turning point in the government’s role in housing policy—emphasizing growth, deregulation, and targeted federal intervention in communities in need.
Turner Showcases Opportunity Zones as Model for Urban Revitalization
HUD began the week in Atlanta, where Secretary Turner toured Centennial Yards, a sprawling mixed-use development rising in one of the city’s designated Opportunity Zones. Once dominated by underused industrial tracts and aging infrastructure, the area is now being transformed into a dense mix of housing, retail, offices, and public space.
“Since day one, President Trump has made it clear that housing affordability is a top priority of this administration,” Turner said as he visited the site. He argued that the project demonstrated “innovative, data driven solutions” that can “transform forgotten communities into vibrant neighborhoods bustling with new businesses, housing units, and economic development.”
Opportunity Zones, established under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, have been central to the administration’s approach to housing development, offering tax incentives to investors who channel capital into historically underserved areas. HUD said these zones have nearly doubled the number of new housing units in impacted communities, increased housing supply by more than 300,000 new addresses, raised home values by over three percent, and lifted more than one million people out of poverty.
With the One Big Beautiful Bill making Opportunity Zones a permanent part of the tax code, Turner said the program now has the long-term certainty needed to attract billions in additional investment. Centennial Yards, one of the largest urban redevelopment projects underway in the country, has become a case study for HUD’s vision of how federal tax policy can reshape local economies.
Officials and developers emphasized that the project is designed to serve a wide range of residents, blending market-rate and affordable housing with new public amenities. Local leaders told Turner the redevelopment is already drawing employers, restaurateurs, and small businesses, helping reverse decades of disinvestment downtown.
HUD Announces One Million Americans Assisted by FHA and Ginnie Mae
Two days after the Atlanta visit, Turner announced that HUD helped provide a pathway to homeownership and affordability for more than one million Americans this year through FHA and Ginnie Mae programs.
Since January, FHA has insured more than 700,000 mortgages for homebuyers and refinance borrowers. Nearly 438,000 of these were for first-time homebuyers, and 19,200 were for senior homeowners seeking to refinance or maintain stability in retirement.
Ginnie Mae supported over 430,000 VA loans in 2025—including tens of thousands for veteran first-time homebuyers—and saw one of its strongest months of the year in October. Despite what Turner called “the left’s shutdown and artificially high interest rates,” Ginnie Mae enabled the securitization of more than $50 billion in mortgage loans that month alone.
“President Trump’s bold leadership is empowering HUD to use every tool at our disposal to make the American dream of homeownership a reality,” Turner said. “We will not stop slashing regulations and promoting policies that put families first until young Americans have the same opportunities for homeownership their parents and grandparents once had.”
HUD officials noted that easing regulatory burdens has been a major part of the department’s strategy. The administration has repeatedly argued that excessive and outdated federal rules have inflated construction costs, slowed permitting processes, and hindered access to financing—particularly for first-time buyers and moderate-income families. Turner said the department will continue issuing reforms aimed at unlocking supply, increasing affordability, and supporting lenders that prioritize responsible expansion.
HUD Deploys Major Disaster Relief for Alaska Following Typhoon Halong
On November 21, HUD released a sweeping package of disaster recovery tools and regulatory flexibilities for communities in Alaska that were devastated by storms, flooding, and the remnants of Typhoon Halong earlier in October. President Trump issued a major disaster declaration for the state on October 22, triggering federal assistance across multiple agencies.
Turner emphasized that HUD’s role in disaster response is centered on ensuring immediate relief, long-term rebuilding assistance, and flexibility for communities facing extreme housing shortages.
“HUD serves every American and works alongside communities to help rebuild homes, neighborhoods, and businesses after severe storms,” Turner said. “To support Alaskans during this time of need, HUD is providing financial flexibility and disaster recovery resources to affected communities.”
Alaska’s congressional delegation expressed strong support for HUD’s actions. Senator Lisa Murkowski noted that western Alaska’s limited housing stock—combined with climate challenges and ongoing relocation efforts in vulnerable communities—has compounded the disaster’s impact. Senator Dan Sullivan described Halong’s destruction as “devastating,” noting that entire villages were damaged or destroyed. Representative Nick Begich stressed that many communities were already grappling with severe housing scarcity before the storms hit.
HUD’s disaster package includes:
Flexibility for Tribes and Tribally Designated Housing Entities:
Recipients of Indian Housing Block Grants and Indian Community Development Block Grants will be able to exceed cost limits, serve middle-income families impacted by a disaster, purchase urgently needed equipment, and issue emergency payments for necessities.
Financial Protections and Foreclosure Relief:
HUD has issued a 90-day moratorium on foreclosures for borrowers insured under the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee program and all FHA-insured borrowers in the disaster zone. Reverse mortgage borrowers will also receive a 90-day extension.
Mortgage Insurance for Rebuilding:
HUD’s Section 203(h) program will provide 100 percent financing for homeowners needing to reconstruct or replace damaged homes.
Rehabilitation Financing:
Section 203(k) loans will allow homeowners to purchase or refinance properties while rolling repair costs into a single mortgage.
Housing Coordination with FEMA and the State:
HUD will identify housing providers with available units and share program information to streamline recovery efforts.
Flexibilities for Major Programs:
Community Development Block Grant recipients, Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS providers, Continuum of Care grantees, Emergency Solutions Grants participants, and HOME Investment Partnerships recipients may apply for administrative waivers.
Support for Public Housing Agencies and Housing Counseling Services:
Public Housing Agencies in the disaster area can request additional waivers, while HUD-approved housing counseling agencies will provide multilingual assistance to residents navigating recovery programs.
Assistance With Fair Housing Enforcement:
HUD reminded the public that housing discrimination often increases after disasters and emphasized that fair housing complaints can be filed by phone or online.
Turner said HUD will remain engaged with Alaska’s tribal leaders, local governments, and nonprofit organizations as long-term rebuilding begins.
Turner Outlines Massive Homelessness Policy Overhaul on National Television
HUD ended the week with a major national television appearance, as Turner sat down with Maria Bartiromo on Fox Business to outline sweeping reforms to the department’s Continuum of Care program. The CoC system—long a central pillar of federal homelessness policy—has come under sharp criticism from the administration, which argues that its emphasis on the Housing First model has failed to reduce homelessness in many cities.
Turner said the previous administration’s reliance on Housing First amounted to “warehousing” individuals without addressing core drivers such as addiction, mental illness, and long-term unemployment. He described the Biden-era CoC structure as a “slush fund for nonprofits” that received billions in funding while homelessness rose sharply.
“Under the Biden administration, about 12 billion dollars was spent on Continuum of Care…yet homelessness went up almost 33 percent over the last several years,” Turner said. “What we’ve done is take this Biden-era slush fund and turned it into not just housing, but also treatment and transitional housing.”
Turner said the department is now redirecting funding toward transitional housing providers and organizations that offer treatment and wraparound services. He emphasized that the goal is not simply to shelter individuals but to restore independence and long-term stability.
“We want to award providers for not only housing the homeless, but treating them, transforming them, and getting them back to a life of self-sufficiency,” he said.
The reforms also aim to redefine HUD’s role in addressing homelessness, prioritizing measurable outcomes over program expansion. Turner said the department is evaluating which cities and regions have demonstrated success in reducing homelessness and intends to replicate those models nationwide.
Critics of Housing First have long argued that the model is insufficient without access to behavioral health treatment, addiction services, and employment programs. Turner echoed those concerns, saying the administration is committed to a holistic approach that reflects the complexities of chronic homelessness.
“Under President Trump’s leadership, we actually care about the American people,” Turner said. “We don’t want more people to be homeless, more people on the streets, more people dying of drug addictions. We want people to live in dignity.”
A Transformative Week for HUD and a Preview of Major Policy Changes Ahead
The week’s announcements reveal a department undertaking one of its broadest expansions of activity in years—stretching from urban redevelopment and homeownership promotion to disaster relief and structural reforms to homelessness programs.
Turner and senior administration officials cast the developments as part of a comprehensive strategy to rebuild local economies, invest in American families, reduce regulatory burdens, and address what they describe as decades of policy failure that left many communities behind.
Supporters argue that the administration’s housing agenda is beginning to yield measurable results, pointing to rising homeownership rates, growing investment in Opportunity Zones, and expanded housing relief for disaster-stricken regions.
Challenges remain: rising interest rates continue to strain affordability, housing shortages persist in several states, and homelessness remains a complex problem with no single solution.
But Turner and his team insist that HUD is now equipped with tools, authority, and long-term funding stability that will allow the department to deliver on its promises well into the next decade.
“Our mission is clear,” Turner said. “HUD is here to uplift American families, rebuild American communities, and ensure every American has a place to call home.”
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