Unused but Still Useful

Acquiring Federal Property to Serve Homeless People

While 5.1 million acres of federal land are classified as vacant with no definable purpose, an estimated 2.5 to 3.5 million people experience homelessness in a given year.

Because of a law NLCHP helped pass, the needs of homeless people must be considered when unused federal property is made available.  Homeless assistance organizations can access the property and other resources, at no cost, when it is left unused.

This report is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information on two surplus federal property programs: Title V of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act and the Base Closure Community Redevelopment and Homeless Assistance Act of 1994. 

The first part of this report examines the programs and the agencies enforcement of the laws and recommends policy changes to ensure that the programs help end homelessness. The second part of the report examines 64 programs that acquired surplus federal property.

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