A proposed rule change expected to be unveiled this week by HUD would change the way federal money is used to build low- and moderate-income housing across the country. | Shutterstock

A proposed change to the Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing rule has heightened debates over the best way to promote housing equity Federal efforts to encourage cities and local governments to reduce housing in low- and middle-income neighborhoods in a way that promoted equity and equality could be in danger, according to some housing advocates, who have warned that a proposed rule change published today by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) could weaken Obama-era efforts to reduce segregation.
The rule in question, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (AFFH), was put in place in 2015 to strengthen the Fair Housing Act of 1968. One of the nation?s landmark housing laws, the Fair Housing Act banned de facto racial discrimination in housing, and further required that any municipality that receives HUD funding must ?affirmatively further? fair housing?but the definition of that term has been left to each HUD secretary to define. Obama?s measure required recipients of Community Development Block Grant money, a funding source used by over 1,300 municipalities across the nation, to engage in a formal review process to make sure new developments weren?t contributing to segregation, and then create their own fair housing goals. But it was never fully implemented before ...