HFAs and their partners administer the Housing Choice Voucher (voucher) program, which is primarily used for tenant-based rental assistance. Eligible families are generally required to contribute 30 percent of their income for rent and utilities on a home or apartment of their choosing. Program administrators can use a portion of these vouchers to help renters transition to homeownership. Up to 20 percent of these vouchers may be used for eligible families occupying pre-selected apartments (project-basing).
Project-based vouchers are limited to no more than 25 percent of the apartments in an individual multifamily housing development. HFAs and their partners administer the program by soliciting applications, determining recipient eligibility, establishing allowable rent levels and determining whether the properties for rent comply with the housing quality standards established under the Choice Voucher Program.
NCSHA is working with other housing advocates to:
- strengthen the Housing Choice Voucher program to ensure its effectiveness in meeting affordable housing needs in the states;
- obtain Section 8 funding adequate to renew all authorized vouchers and support new ones; and
- authorize and provide new state-administered funding that states may use to provide project-based operating subsidies to support affordable rental housing and tenant-based rental assistance to support state-determined priorities unmet under the Housing Choice Voucher program.
Advocating for funding adequate to renew all authorized vouchers and provide for new ones is one of NCSHA’s Legislative Priorities.
Useful Links: HUD’s Housing Choice Vouchers Webpage, HUD Voucher Program Fact Sheet
Printer-friendly versionNCSHA Blog Posts
- January 27, 2012
The House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity recently circulated new draft legislation to reform the Section 8 program, the Affordable Housing and Self-Sufficiency Improvement Act of 2012 (AHSSIA). The legislation is the latest version of the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act (SEVRA) and the Section 8 Savings Act (SESA). The Subcommittee expects to markup the legislation, which has not yet been formally introduced and thus has not been assigned a bill number, in mid-February. - January 17, 2012Last week, HFA staff and industry experts came together at NCSHA's HFA Institute to discuss the latest changes to the Section 8 Program, including the NOFA process and PBCA guidance.
Housing Headlines
- Washington Post
- Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies
- New York Times
News
- April 21, 2010
Vermonters who rent live in the fifteenth least affordable state in the nation, according to a new report jointly released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a Washington, DC-based housing advocacy group, and the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.
Section 8 Housing Vouchers - Resources
- January 25, 2012This is the draft legislation for the Affordable Housing and Self-Sufficiency Improvement Act of 2011.
- December 13, 2011
NCSHA’s priorities, adopted annually by its Board of Directors after consultation with all state HFAs, set the agenda for NCSHA’s business development activities and advocacy before Congress, the Administration, and the federal agencies concerned with housing, including HUD, USDA, and the Treasury.
