MTW agencies vary in the number of households served, the mix of housing assistance provided, and the characteristics of assisted households. The interactive chart below allows you to view the number of households served in 2008 and 2016 for each MTW agency by program type.

Hud Rental Assistance Programs Provided by Mtw PHAS

Public housing. Originating in 1937, public housing is the nation’s oldest housing subsidy program. Today, there are approximately 1.1 million public housing units. Public housing units are owned and managed by PHAs, and tenants pay rent directly to a PHA each month. Households must have income below 80 percent of an area’s median income to qualify for public housing, but PHAs are required to target at least 40 percent of new admissions to families at or below the extremely low-income limit (ELI) of 30 percent of the area median. Additionally, housing authorities often give preference to households that are homeless, that are elderly and/or disabled, or that are working families. Most families in public housing pay 30 percent of their income in rent or a minimum rent of up to $50 per month.

Housing Choice Vouchers. The HCV program provides rental assistance to approximately 2.3 million low-income households annually. HUD requires that not less than 75 percent of families admitted to a PHA’s HCV program in a year have incomes at or below the ELI limit. The program includes tenant- and project-based voucher assistance. For both types of voucher assistance, households typically pay 30 percent of their income or a minimum rent of up to $50 per month.

• Tenant-based vouchers are provided to eligible households to enable them to rent privately owned housing. Once households receive a voucher from their local PHA, they have a minimum of 60 days to find a unit that meets federal quality standards and whose landlord will accept the voucher. When an HCV holder leases a unit, the HCV holder (i.e., the tenant) pays a portion of the gross rent (rent plus any tenant-paid utilities), and the PHA pays a portion. The program allows households to rent housing in any jurisdiction where a PHA administers an HCV program and a landlord will accept a voucher.
• Project-based vouchers are attached to specific units and properties through contracts with property managers or owners who rent units to eligible families. The rent is subsidized by the PHA through the project-based voucher. Like with a tenant-based voucher, the tenant and the PHA each pay a portion of the rent. In some cases, PHAs own the project-based voucher properties. Contracts between the PHA and property owners may extend up to 20 years.

Local, nontraditional programs. MTW agencies can implement activities that fall outside the HCV and public housing programs, known as local, nontraditional programs. Local, nontraditional programs may include those that use MTW funds to provide rental subsidies to a third-party entity (i.e., other than a landlord or tenant) that manages intake and administration of the subsidy program (known as sponsor-basing); to act as a mortgagor; to acquire, renovate, and/or build units that are not public housing or HCV units (e.g., tax credit partnerships); or to fund services that are not otherwise permitted or that are provided to nonresidents. Traditional PHAs may not provide local, nontraditional assistance.