Each state works with the federal government to provide affordable housing to renters with limited incomes.
There are nearly 1 million income-restricted apartments and rental homes in the United States. That translates into the federal government spending more than $51 billion annually to assist low-income Americans to have a roof over their head.
Different types of income-based apartments comprise the affordable rental housing landscape. Some are government-owned apartments. And private landlords who underwent an extensive screening process to gain acceptance into the subsidized housing hold others.
What is income-restricted housing?
Income-restricted housing is also known as affordable housing or public housing. The U.S. government established income-restricted apartments as The Great Depression of the 1930s destroyed the worldwide economy. Industrial output plummeted, unemployment soared and families became destitute.
Affordable housing became scarce as the economy worsened. The federal response initially began as the Public Housing Administration. In 1965, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) came about from five existing agencies.
Congress takes action on income-restricted apartments
With economic devastation plaguing Americans following The Great Depression, Congress passed the Affordable Housing Act in 1937. That statute implemented several measures to help develop new and rental housing across the country. It did so while also subsidizing the rental costs of income-restricted tenants. That program allows private property owners, in addition to government-owned apartments, to offer subsidized housing for low-income families.
Around the same time, Section 8 housing started under the Section 8 Housing Act of 1937.
What is Section 8 housing?
Section 8 is the informal name of the Federal Housing Choice Vouchers Program. The federal government continues to oversee this housing voucher offer.
Participants in the program find their own housing and pay rent with a ‘housing choice voucher.’
How do you apply for Section 8 benefits?
Applying for the Federal Housing Choice Voucher Program is simple. The first step is to contact your local Public Housing Agency (PHA). They will help determine your eligibility. After that, you must complete an application seeking information about total household income, family size, assets and debts, for starters. A criminal background check is also required of applicants.
Keep in mind that in some areas, the waiting list to receive Section 8 benefits, including subsidized housing, is extremely long. For this reason, it’s best to start the process sooner rather than later.
What makes you eligible for Section 8 assistance?
You might be wondering if you’re eligible for Section 8. While the PHA will be able to tell you for sure, there are a couple of factors that play into eligibility for Section 8 that you can consider ahead of time. You must:
- Be at least 18 years of age
- Be a U.S. citizen or eligible noncitizen
- Make no more than 80 percent of your area’s median income
- Must have not been evicted in the past 3 years for drug-related criminal activity
Not all rentals can become Section 8 housing
Not all property owners want to make their rentals available to Section 8 tenants. However, some states or municipalities have guidelines requiring property owners to accept tenants with government housing vouchers. But that’s not the standard nationwide.
Property owners who wish to have their apartment complexes considered for Section 8 housing should consult the Section 8 Program guide.
Types of public housing
While their names are similar, there are two distinctly different flavors of affordable housing in the U.S. One commonality between them is they both involve government-subsidized living.
Income-restricted housing
In income-restricted housing, rent prices are set on the median income for the local area. The government then caps rental fees at a certain percentage of that figure. That price fluctuates based on state law and the apartment’s size.
Income-based housing
Meanwhile, rent prices for income-based apartments are based on the tenant’s adjusted gross income. That comes with rent capped at 30 percent of that figure. Unlike income-restricted housing, the rental price of income-based apartments has no connection to the area’s average income levels.
States play a key role in affordable housing
Even though HUD oversees affordable housing at the federal level, the state level sets the barometer for median income levels.
That’s because average income levels vary wildly from state to state, and even from county to county. It would be incredibly unfair if average monthly rent prices were just as high in poorer states or counties as they are in wealthier areas.
HUD calculates the median income levels for each metropolitan area within the United States on an annual basis. Once they get that figure, HUD details the maximum income a person may earn to qualify for government subsidies.
What are income-based housing limits?
HUD rates a renter’s income eligibility for government subsidies by basing it on area median income (AMI). The thresholds used by HUD to determine housing voucher eligibility are:
- 30% AMI: Considered extremely low income and are given priority for housing vouchers
- 50% AMI: Considered very low income and are eligible for housing vouchers
- 80% AMI: Considered low income and are often on waiting lists for housing vouchers
In general, the lower a tenant’s income, meaning the lower their AMI, the higher priority their application for subsidized housing is given.
Role of the local public housing authority
HUD implements its subsidized housing program on the state level through a local public housing authority (PHA).
There are PHA offices in many cities across the United States. To find the one that serves your area, check the Official Housing Authority.
The PHA is an extremely important player in the low-income housing landscape because it administers both the state and federal guidelines to receive government subsidies.
Determining eligibility for public housing
The local housing authority determines a tenant’s eligibility for income-based programs.
Considerations include:
- Annual gross income
- Whether an applicant qualifies as elderly, disabled or a low-income family
- U.S. citizen or eligible immigration status
Since income limits vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and sometimes, even city-to-city, be sure to check HUD’s correct income graph for the county, size of family and AMI of the applicant.
How to apply for income-restricted apartments
In order to apply for an income-restricted apartment, low-income renters should contact their local PHA. One way to find them is to check the HUD Field Office website.
The application process is slow and tedious, so don’t expect anything to happen quickly. In addition to the usual governmental bureaucracy, the demand for income-restricted apartments has increased markedly, making competition fierce and wait times far longer.
Applying for affordable housing isn’t an easy task. There’s also huge unmet demand for affordable units than there is the supply of subsidized housing. Many applicants spend years on the waiting list before receiving government assistance, which patience is imperative.
Eligibility requirements
Required information for income-restricted subsidized public housing includes:
- Names of all persons who would be living in the unit, including their gender, date of birth and relationship to the family’s head of household
- The applicant’s current address and telephone number
- The family’s specific circumstances, such as whether the applicant is a veteran or currently living in sub-standard housing qualify the applicant for special eligibility consideration
- The members of the household are all U.S. citizens or eligible immigrants
- An estimate of your family’s anticipated maximum income for the next 12 months and the sources of that income
- Names and addresses of employers, banks or any other information the HA requests to verify your qualifications for subsidized housing
- Eviction for criminal activity: The members of the household can’t have an eviction from public housing or Section 8 for drug-related criminal activity in the three years prior
Providing documentation
The applicant must provide all the information requested in the application in order to qualify for an income-restricted apartment. In addition to the documentation you provide, the PHA may also contact your employer or other people they believe can verify or dispute your claims as to why you qualify for government housing.
Next steps
If the low-income applicant meets the eligibility requirements to receive government subsidies, their next step is to submit a written application for a housing order.
Assuming all the information submitted in the application checks out, the tenant must then partake in an in-person interview with a Housing Authority representative.
Wait times vary
Wait times for that in-person meeting vary state to state and even from one jurisdiction to another. The waiting list also prioritizes applicants with greater need. So, it’s advisable to contact the PHA to determine where you are on the waiting list. You can do so by calling the HA or checking online to see if they provide that information.
Along the way, be certain to maintain all your application materials organized and handy. You never know when you might hear from your PHA.
Written notice
A public assistance applicant will receive a written notice to verify if they received acceptance or were denied government housing assistance. Once an applicant qualifies, their name goes on a waiting list for housing.
There are rare circumstances when a PHA can help an applicant immediately. But normally, they get on the waitlist if they’re eligible for government assistance.
Home sweet home
The more specific housing needs a low-income family has for their apartment, the longer it will likely take for such a place to become available. Unfortunately, the public housing system in the United States is overwhelmed by the sheer number of applicants and the lack of sufficient housing units to provide them to all those in need.
Therefore, the best a person can do is apply, sit and wait.
Source: rent.com