The Housing Choice Voucher Program

Once a family receives a voucher, it has at least 60 days to find housing. A family can use a voucher to help pay the rent either for its current unit or for a new unit. In either case, the housing agency must verify that the unit meets federal housing quality standards and that the rent is reasonable compared to market rents for similar units in the area. A family with a voucher generally must contribute the higher of 30 percent of its income or a “minimum rent” of up to $50 for rent and utilities. The voucher pays the rest of those costs, up to a limit (called a “payment standard”) set by the housing agency.

No. Up to 20 percent of voucher funds can be used for subsidies — called “project-based” vouchers — that are tied to a particular property rather than a particular family and thus can help pay for the construction or rehabilitation of housing for low-income families. Also, vouchers are sometimes used to help with mortgage payments, enabling low-income families to purchase homes.

Each agency has a cap on the number of vouchers it is authorized to administer. An agency’s number of “authorized vouchers” is essentially the sum of the vouchers the agency has been awarded since the start of the voucher program. Each year, Congress provides some new vouchers. Since 2003, new vouchers have been either “tenant-protection” vouchers (which replace either public housing that is demolished or sold or other affordable housing units that lose federal subsidies) or “special purpose” vouchers (which are aimed at particular types of households, such as homeless veterans). While most vouchers are used in metropolitan areas, approximately 11 percent are used in non-metropolitan areas.

Most agencies’ voucher funding each year is based on the number of their authorized vouchers in use in the prior year and the actual cost of those vouchers, adjusted for inflation. If Congress provides less overall funding than agencies are due, each agency’s funding is reduced proportionately. Funding for new vouchers and administrative costs is provided separately. Agencies participating in the Moving-to-Work demonstration are funded under their agreements.

Vouchers sharply reduce homelessness and other hardships, lift more than a million people out of poverty, and give families an opportunity to move to safer, less poor neighborhoods. These effects, in turn, are closely linked to educational, developmental, and health benefits that can improve children’s long-term prospects and reduce costs in other public programs. In addition, most voucher households that can reasonably be expected to work, do work. In 2014, 66 percent of non-elderly, non-disabled households using vouchers were working or had worked recently, while an additional 7 percent were likely subject to a work requirement under the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. Moreover, vouchers enable more than 1 million elderly or disabled individuals to afford to live independently.