The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

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December 11, 2023
The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program
The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program is
PHAs may choose to project base (i.e., tie them to specific
the nation’s largest rental assistance program. Authorized
units of housing) a portion of their vouchers within certain
under Section 8 of the Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C.
limits, provided tenants are given the option to receive a
§1437f(o)), it subsidizes the rents of more than 2.3 million
tenant-based voucher after one year.
households (5 million people), and its funding accounts for
more than half the budget of the Department of Housing
HCVs are not time-limited. A household can receive
and Urban Development (HUD).
assistance until six months after their income increases such
that their tenant contribution equals their housing cost and
Program Administration and Basics
they no longer qualify for a subsidy. Households may have
The HCV program is federally funded via HUD and is
their vouchers revoked if they fail to follow program rules.
administered locally by about 2,100 local public housing
authorities (PHAs). Each PHA is authorized to administer a
There are several forms of special purpose vouchers,
maximum number of vouchers, although federal funding is
including Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH)
often insufficient for PHAs to issue all authorized vouchers.
vouchers for veterans experiencing homelessness, jointly
administered with the Department of Veterans Affairs;
Because there is not enough federal funding to meet
Family Unification Program (FUP) vouchers for child
demand for vouchers—the program serves roughly one in
welfare-involved families or former foster youth, jointly
four eligible households—PHAs generally maintain waiting
administered with local child welfare agencies; and
lists for vouchers. In administering their waiting lists, PHAs
“mainstream” vouchers for persons with disabilities.
may establish preferences for households with certain
characteristics, as determined by the PHA (e.g., persons
Household Characteristics
with disabilities, persons experiencing homelessness).
The HCV program serves all types of households, ranging
from single adults to families with children. Preferences
Individuals and families (hereinafter, households) are
PHAs set for their waiting lists can affect the characteristics
generally eligible to receive a voucher if they are very low-
of their HCV caseloads, as can allocations of special
income (income at or below 50% of the local area median
purpose vouchers. As shown in Figure 1, in 2023 roughly
income [AMI]), although 75% of vouchers available each
39% of HCV households include children; 61% are
year are targeted to households that are extremely low-
households without children. Of the latter, the majority are
income (income at or below the greater of 30% of AMI or
headed by persons age 62 or older. Over time, families with
the federal poverty guidelines). In addition to income
children have accounted for a smaller share of assisted
eligibility, PHAs may adopt additional screening criteria
households; in 2012, according to HUD data, families with
(e.g., criminal background, rental, or credit history).
children accounted for over half of all HCV households.
Households use vouchers to lease private market units from
Figure 1. Head of Household Characteristics, 2023
willing landlords. (Laws in some jurisdictions require
landlords to accept vouchers.) If a unit meets program
standards, including passing an initial quality and safety
inspection (annually thereafter), and the tenant meets any
screening criteria set by the landlord, the PHA and landlord
sign a contract and the landlord and tenant sign a lease.
Households contribute the greater of 30% of their adjusted
incomes or 10% of their gross incomes toward their rent
and utilities, and the voucher covers the remainder, up to a
maximum—called a payment standard—set by the PHA
(generally, 90%-110% of local Fair Market Rent, adjusted
by number of bedrooms). If the rent for a unit exceeds the
tenant contribution plus the voucher subsidy, the household

may pay the difference, up to certain limits the first year.
Source: Prepared by CRS based on HUD Resident Characteristics
Report data, accessed June 2023.
Vouchers are generally portable, which means families can
use them within and across PHA jurisdictional boundaries.
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The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program
Special Initiatives
appropriations acts have been funding additional vouchers
The Family Self Sufficiency (FSS) program, created in
to serve new families, called incremental vouchers, each
1992, funds caseworkers to help HCV families develop and
year. Incremental vouchers are typically targeted to specific
pursue five-year self-sufficiency plans. FSS caseworkers
populations (i.e., VASH and FUP), though general purpose
connect families with services, and while families are
incremental vouchers were funded in FY2022 and FY2023.
making progress on their plans, any increased rent they pay
Second, an increasing number of public housing or other
attributable to increased income is deposited into an escrow
HUD-assisted multifamily housing residents have been
account that the family receives upon graduation from the
transferring into the HCV program. Families transfer either
program (they may access the funds early to meet program
because their existing subsidized housing has become
goals). The program is voluntary for families and PHAs;
unavailable (they receive tenant protection vouchers), or
funding is insufficient to offer the program at all PHAs or
because the property undergoes a conversion to replace
to serve all interested families at all participating PHAs.
other federal funding streams with HCVs (generally via the
Rental Assistance Demonstration [RAD]).
First authorized in 1996, the Moving to Work (MTW)
demonstration allows a limited number of PHAs to receive
In addition to renewals and new voucher costs, the TBRA
waivers of federal rules and regulations governing the HCV
account also funds per-voucher administrative fees paid to
and public housing programs. In 2016, the program was
PHAs, as well as special initiatives.
expanded by up to 100 PHAs. The 38 original participating
PHAs can receive waivers of most federal rules and
Recent Developments
regulations; the PHAs added under the 2016 expansion may
Mobility: A number of initiatives are underway to increase
receive waivers of a more limited set of program rules and
access to more neighborhoods for HCV families,
regulations, designed to test improvements of specific
particularly families with children. Since FY2019, Congress
program aspects, such as landlord participation, flexibility
has provided funding to HUD to test the provision of
for small PHAs, and alternative rent models.
comprehensive mobility-related services to HCV families
with children to increase their awareness of and access to
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress provided
neighborhoods considered to have more opportunities (e.g.,
$5 billion in mandatory one-time funding for Emergency
better schools, transit, jobs). The Community Choice
Housing Vouchers (EHVs) in FY2021. All PHAs were
Demonstration is currently slated to run at eight sites
offered an allocation of the 70,000 new EHVs to serve
through October 2028. Additionally, HUD announced an
families who are homeless or at risk of homelessness.
expansion of the number of PHAs required to use Small
While they otherwise function as regular HCVs, they do
Area Fair Market Rents (FMRs), which are zip code-level
have several special features. Once they are initially leased,
FMRs (as opposed to metro or county level) designed to
PHAs cannot reissue EHVs after September 2023. Further,
better reflect local housing costs and expand the
PHAs received additional fees, including to provide
neighborhoods available to HCV-holders.
supportive services for families and incentives to landlords
to lease to EHV families.
HOTMA Implementation: In 2016, Congress passed the
Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act
Funding
(HOTMA; P.L. 114-201), which made a number of changes
The account that funds the HCV program—the tenant based
to the way income and rents are calculated in the HCV and
rental assistance (TBRA) account—is the largest in HUD’s
other rental assistance programs, among other things. In
budget, making up over 58% of the agency’s gross
February 2023, HUD published a final rule to implement
discretionary budget authority in FY2023. Appropriations
the outstanding HOTMA changes. Most of the final rule’s
have grown 34% (in nominal terms) since FY2019.
changes affecting income and rent are effective January 1,
2024, but HUD delayed the compliance date for PHAs to
Table 1. TBRA Account Funding, FY2019-FY2023
January 1, 2025, given the system upgrades they will need
(nominal dol ars in bil ions)
to make to implement the new policies.
FY2019 FY2020 FY2021 FY2022
FY2023
Change
Inspection Changes: In response to concerns raised by
some in Congress, the HUD Office of Inspector General,
$22.60
$23.87
$25.78
$27.37
$30.25
+34%
and the Government Accountability Office, HUD
Source: Table prepared by CRS. Figures do not include COVID-19
undertook a multiyear process to revise its inspection
emergency supplemental funding but do include emergency funding
protocols across its rental housing programs to increase
for regular program operations provided in FY2021 and FY2023.
their focus on health and safety and create more consistency
across programs. The new National Standards for the
The bulk of TBRA funding (87% in FY2023) is devoted to
Physical Inspection of Real Estate (NSPIRE) protocols
the cost of annually renewing existing vouchers. Renewal
were initially scheduled to take effect in the HCV program
costs generally grow each year because of growth in
in fall 2023 but have been delayed until October 1, 2024.
average per voucher costs, as well as growth in the number
of vouchers to be renewed. Per voucher costs are largely
Maggie McCarty, Specialist in Housing Policy
driven by market factors (i.e., the difference between tenant
income growth vs. market rent growth). The number of
IF12546
vouchers has been growing for two reasons. First, annual
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The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

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