Section 3 Benchmarks for Creating Economic Opportunities for Low- and Very Low-Income Persons and Eligible Businesses
Key claim: HUD is updating the numerical targets that contractors on federally funded housing projects must meet for hiring low-income residents and using Section 3 businesses, and is asking the public to comment on those targets.
Abstract
(Rule · Housing and Urban Development Department) HUD’s regulations require that HUD set Section 3 benchmarks by publishing a notification, subject to public comment, in the Federal Register and update the benchmarks no less frequently than once every three years by the same method of notification. This document serves as an update of the 2023 benchmark Notice and requests public comment about the Section 3 benchmark goals.
Why this matters
Section 3 benchmarks set the de facto hiring and subcontracting floor that HUD-funded builders must hit (or document good-faith efforts toward), so changes ripple into who gets jobs on public and assisted housing projects and which small firms can compete for the work. The routine three-year refresh is the main lever through which HUD recalibrates those targets, and the comment window is the primary chance for builders, PHAs, and resident advocates to push the numbers up or down before they lock in.