HUD Publishes Memo Announcing the End of Restore-Rebuild Initiative
By: Andrew Van Horn, Policy and Research Advisor
May 18, 2026 — On May 15, HUD sent a memo to all Public Housing Authorities titled “Updates to the Restore-Rebuild Initiative” announcing the end of the program. The Restore-Rebuild Initiative (formerly “Faircloth to RAD”) allows PHAs to build additional public housing units using HUD’s public housing mixed-finance program with pre-approval to convert the property to a long-term Section 8 project-based contract following construction if they currently operate fewer units than they did in October 1999.
The memo outlines how this change will affect current Restore-Rebuild transactions based on where a PHA is in the process.
- HUD is not accepting requests for new Notices of Anticipated RAD Rents (NARRs).
- HUD will continue processing NARRs that were submitted before May 12, 2026 (the date of the memo), and
- If the PHA has received a NARR or receives a NARR after this memo, it will be void after 90 days unless the PHA meets one of several criteria outlined in the memo.
The President’s budget also proposes re-benchmarking PHAs’ Faircloth limits based on unit counts as of October 1, 2027. NAHRO has raised concerns with Congress about this provision. While it would not directly terminate Restore-Rebuild, it would effectively prevent the program from ever being reimplemented in the future.
For more information, find the memo here and watch for further updates from NAHRO.