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What Is Subsidized Housing for the Disabled & Elderly?

Subsidized housing generally refers to rental units where the government or another entity directly or indirectly pays a portion of a household's rent. Often, entire programs or, more frequently, specific projects offer subsidized units exclusively to seniors and persons with disabilities. Many initiatives that accept all groups provide preference to the elderly and disabled.

  1. Function

    • As the National Low Income Housing Coalition explains, the nationally accepted standard of housing affordability posits that a family should not spend more than 30 percent of its household income on rent and utilities. When a household overextends its housing expenditure, it runs the risk of not being able to comfortably pay for other things, such as groceries and transportation. In the case of the elderly or the disabled, the problem can be even more acute, particularly if advanced age, disability or both limit income and available assets.

    Types

    • Most subsidized housing, including development that targets seniors and persons with disabilities, tends to use similar methods to subsidize rents. Some subsidies are relatively straightforward --- the government or another organization, often a nonprofit, pays a portion of an individual's or family's rent. In some cases, cities manipulate planning and zoning codes to realize affordable housing. In San Francisco, for example, the Mayor's Office of Housing notes that the city's Below Market Rate program requires private developers to include a certain percentage of affordable units in projects over a certain size or pay an "in-lieu of" fee. Often, the city restricts such dwellings to the elderly or disabled, with the for-profit builder effectively providing an indirect subsidy.

    Programs

    • The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is at the forefront of providing rental subsidies to the elderly and disabled. Public housing agencies (PHAs) across the country own and operate public housing projects with rents set at affordable rates, based on the aforementioned 30 percent standard. Most cities set aside a certain number of units or, frequently, entire developments that only allow seniors or the disabled to apply. Through HUD's Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, low-income renters receive federal assistance to pay a portion of their private market rent. Since HUD allows PHAs to set their own preference criteria, some cities' Section 8 programs favor seniors and persons with disabilities. HUD operates several offshoots of voucher assistance that allow the disabled to access project-based and private housing. Some cities, such as San Francisco, provide senior and disabled housing that's outside of HUD's purview. These offerings vary significantly by location, if available.

    Considerations

    • Due to strong demand for affordable housing, most programs, particularly public housing and Section 8, use waiting lists. As HUD's Housing Choice Voucher fact sheet indicates, "long waiting periods are common" before receiving Section 8 assistance. This accentuates the need for applicants to search for programs that give preference. As an example, the Boston Housing Authority used a preference system for its 2008 Section 8 lottery, which gave preference to elderly and disabled single persons over other singles and favored chronically homeless persons who are disabled over other applicants.

    Cost

    • Most subsidized housing programs for the elderly and disabled strive to satisfy the 30 percent affordability threshold. Public housing, for example, which is a common option for seniors and persons with disabilities, generally sets rent at 30 percent of a household's income. As HUD's public housing program website notes, PHAs deduct $400 from a household's annual income for each elderly or disabled person when calculating the household's share of public housing rent.

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