Asset Management of Public Housing

Public housing authorities (PHAs) are becoming increasingly concerned with operating more efficiently, accessing alternate sources of capital, and implementing alternative asset plans. This is due to deregulation and reduction of federal subsidies as well as the need for modernization, major rehabilitation, or redevelopment of public housing developments. A significant response is to look to the private sector as a model. Asset management is a private sector process within which an agent of the property owner supervises the operation and monitors the performance of assets as well as creates and implements asset plans. Whereas preserving and adding to the value of real estate assets with respect to the owner's financial objectives is the goal of private asset management, a PHA's mission is to provide safe, decent, and sanitary housing units at affordable cost to low income families. Reviewing the literature yielded the following five principles for the implementation of an asset management system: define objectives, respond to the external operating environment, separate roles to ensure accountability, analyze alternative asset strategies, and formalize reporting