Government-subsidized buildings are facing a new threat as the Trump administration uses the federal shutdown to cut hundreds of staffers from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
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HUD’s entire team of building inspectors has been cut, Bloomberg reports. The layoffs mean that required inspections for buildings that receive federal funding may be even more delayed and difficult for a rapidly deteriorating housing stock.
HUD didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Inspections of federally subsidized affordable housing buildings are required on an ongoing basis by law, with government officials expected to inspect roughly 12,000 buildings a year. Those include public housing, subsidized apartments and private buildings with tenants who receive housing vouchers.
HUD inspectors coordinate contractors to test smoke alarms, electrical outlets, circuit breakers and plumbing, as well as check for mold, lead paint and additional hazards. Federal employees then review and upload the results of those inspections.
But on Oct. 10, more than 90 staffers from the agency’s Real Estate Assessment Center were let go, Ashaki Robinson, a union president representing those workers, told Bloomberg.
Half of those workers were inspectors, leaving no staff in place to coordinate and review inspections for 5 million housing units nationwide — roughly 10% of all housing across the country, according to a 2021 report from the Public and Affordable Housing and Research Corp. and the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
The inspector layoffs mean that affordable housing receiving federal subsidies, like the 20-story public housing building in the Bronx that partially collapsed at the beginning of October, could wind up with fewer safeguards in place.
Public housing is particularly vulnerable as many of the buildings are decades old and often plagued with problems related to aging, including elevator outages, lead paint and dangerous mold exposure.
There is already a backlog of inspections from the pandemic, with some properties going without inspection for more than five years even though the maximum limit between inspections should be three years, Bloomberg reported.
The Trump administration announced intentions to lay off more than 10,000 federal employees during the government shutdown, with nearly 450 already laid off from HUD as of Wednesday, The New York Times reported.
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