Federally subsidized rental housing began with 1937’s US Housing Act, which created the United States Housing Authority and provided financial assistance to state and local governments for housing low-income people. Since then, the government has provided housing assistance to low-income renters through programs overseen by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
There were about 4.5 million occupied subsidized housing units in 2022, and around 45 million occupied rental units — subsidized and unsubsidized — in the US. That means 10% of all occupied rentals in the US were provided by housing assistance programs. In 2022, 12% of all subsidized units in the US were vacant, compared with 5% of all rental properties.
About 9.05 million people in 2023. On average, residents in 2023 had lived in their units for ten years and two months.
People who live in subsidized housing share one thing: incomes low enough to qualify for housing assistance. In 2023, HUD classified 94% of households in subsidized housing as very low income and 77% as extremely low income. HUD classified households that are 50% below and 70% below the median area household income as very low income and extremely low income, respectively. The average household in subsidized housing earned $17,201 in annual income. Across all subsidized housing, 70% of households earned less than $20,000.
How long do people wait for subsidized housing in the United States?
Two years and one month, on average, in 2023. That’s a 42.1% increase since 2009, when recipients spent one year and six months on waiting lists before moving in to subsidized housing.
Though funding comes from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), housing assistance programs are administered locally by public housing authorities (PHAs), which serve whole states or, more commonly, counties and cities. Local housing availability and demand for housing assistance determine wait times, as well as any changes at HUD that influence supply (like increased funding) or demand (like changes in eligibility requirements).
To receive housing assistance, applicants must apply and be accepted through their local PHA.
Because PHAs have limited available units at a given time and a continual influx of applications, prospective renters are typically placed on a waiting list. Only once a home is available and an applicant is selected from the waiting list is their application evaluated for eligibility. To receive assistance, an applicant must meet income and other requirements at the time they are chosen from the waiting list, regardless of their eligibility when they first applied.
Source: USA Facts