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The Section 8 Housing Choice
Voucher program is a rent subsidy program in which
low-income tenants pay 30 percent of their income and the state
or local housing agency pays the difference, based on the fair
market rent (FMR) as determined by HUD. The voucher program
gives housing agencies the ability to "project-base"
up to 20% of their funding by contracting directly with private
owners — often nonprofit agencies — so that the voucher gets
tied to a specific apartment, enabling the owner to obtain
public and private capital investments based on the future
income stream. Over the last five years, housing agencies across
the country have used this provision effectively to spur
production of new affordable housing in communities where there
is an inadequate supply to meet the needs of voucher holders. In
particular, innovative agencies have used project-based vouchers
to create permanent supportive housing targeted families with
special needs such as disabled families, homeless families,
Veterans, etc.
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