A critique of Knoxville's rental rehabilitation program

The federal government has been involved in housing low-income Americans for approximately fifty years. This involvement has ranged from yesterday's direct financing and management to today's "hands-off" approach. Today, one of these programs that encourage private involvement is the Rental Rehabilitation Program (RRP). In the early 1980's Knoxville was in need of addressing housing for its low-income citizens. To meet this need Knoxville applied for and was granted RRP funding in 1983. To facilitate the implementation of this new program city officials drafted RRP goals. This thesis is an examination to the attainment of Knoxville's RRP goals. This examinantion is facilitated by a study of the evolution of federal housing policy and the characteristics of the RRP both nationally and in Knoxville. The results of this examination show that Knoxville's RRP has attained the majority of its envisioned goals, but that perhaps several program modifications are warranted to maximize its results.