mutual and self-help housing

mutual and self-help housing Sec. 1005. Title V of the Housing Act of 1949 is amended by adding after section 522 (as added by section 1002 of this Act) the following new section: “mutual and self-help housing “Sec. 523. (a) The purposes of this section are (1) to make financial assistance available on reasonable terms and conditions in rural areas and small towns to needy low-income individuals and their families who, with the benefit of technical assistance and overall guidance and supervision, participate in approved programs of mutual or self-help housing by acquiring and developing necessary land, acquiring building materials, providing their own labor, and working cooperatively with others for the provision of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for themselves, their families, and others in the area or town involved, and (2) to facilitate the efforts of both public and private nonprofit organizations providing assistance to such individuals to contribute their technical and supervisory skills toward more effective and comprehensive programs of mutual or self-help housing in rural areas and small towns wherever necessary. 82 Stat. 554 “(b) In order to tarry out the purposes of this section, the Secretary of Agriculture (in this section referred to as the ‘Secretary’) is authorized— “(1) (A) to make grants to, or contract with, public or private non profit corporations, agencies, institutions, organizations, and other associations approved by him, to pay part or all of the costs of developing, conducting, administering, or coordinating effective and comprehensive programs of technical and supervisory assistance which will aid needy low-income individuals and their families in carrying out mutual or self-help housing efforts; and “(B) to establish the Self-Help Housing Land Development Fund, referred to herein as the Self-Help Fund, to be used by the Secretary as a revolving fund for making loans, on such terms and conditions and in such amounts as he deems necessary, to public or private nonprofit organizations for the acquisition and development of land as building sites to be subdivided and sold to families, nonprofit organizations, and cooperatives eligible for assistance under section 235 or 236 of the National Housing Act or section 521 of this Act. Such a loan, with interest at a rate not to exceed 3 percent per annum, shall be repaid within a period not to exceed two years from the making of the loan, or within such additional period as may be authorized by the Secretary in any case as being necessary to carry out the purposes hereof; and “(2) to make loans, on such terms and conditions and in such amounts as he deems necessary, to needy low-income individuals participating in programs of mutual or self-help housing approved by him, for the acquisition and development of land and for the purchase of such other building materials as may be necessary in order to enable them, by providing substantially all of their own labor, and by cooperating with others participating in such programs, to carry out to completion the construction of decent, safe, and sanitary dwellings for such individuals and their families, subject to the following limitations: “(A) there is reasonable assurance of repayment of the loan; “(B) the amount of the loan, together with other funds which may be available, is adequate to achieve the purpose for which the loan is made; “(C) t he credit assistance is not otherwise available on 1 ike terms or conditions from private sources or through other Federal, State, or local programs; “(D) the loan hears interest at a rate not. to exceed 3 per centum per annum on the unpaid balance of principal, plus such additional charge, if any, toward covering other costs of the loan program as the Secretary may determine to be consistent with its purposes; and “(E) the loan is repayable within not more than thirty-three years. “(c) In determining whether to extend financial assistance under paragraph (1) or (2) of subsection (b), the Secretary shall take into consideration, among other factors, the suitability of the area within which construction will be carried out to the type of dwelling which can be provided under mutual or self-help housing programs, the extent to which the assistance will facilitate the provision of more decent, safe, and sanitary housing conditions than presently exist in the area, the extent to which the assistance will be utilized efficiently and expeditiously, the extent to which the assistance will effect an increase in the standard of living of low-in come individuals participating in the mutual or self-help housing program, and whether the 82 Stat. 555assistance will fulfill a need in the area which is not otherwise being met through other programs, including those carried out by other Federal, State, or local agencies. “(d) As used in this section, the term ‘construction’ includes the erection of new dwellings, and the rehabilitation, alteration, conversion, or improvement of existing structures. “(e) The Secretary is authorized to establish appropriate criteria and procedures in order to determine the eligibility of applicants for the financial assistance provided under this section, including criteria and procedures with respect to the periodic review of any construction carried out with such financial assistance. “(f) There are hereby authorized to lie appropriated for each fiscal year commencing after June 30, 1968, and ending prior to July 1, 1973, such sums, not in excess of $5,000,000 for any such fiscal year, as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this section. No grant or loan may be made no contract entered into under the authority of th’s section after June 30, 1973, except pursuant to it commitment or other obligation entered into pursuant to this section before that date. “(g) There are hereby authorized to be appropriated for the purposes of subsection (b) (1) (B) not to exceed $1,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1969. and not to exceed $2,000,000 for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1970. Any amount so authorized to be appropriated for any fiscal year which is not appropriated may he appropriated for any succeeding fiscal year or years. Amounts appropriated under this subsection shall be deposited in the Self-Help Fund, which shall be available without fiscal year limitation for making loans under subsection (b) (1) (B). Instruments and property acquired by the Secretary in or as a result of making such loans shall be assets of the Self-Help Fund. Sums received from the repayment of such loans shall lie deposited in and be a part of the Self-Help Fund.”