How to Find Subsidized Housing

Subsidized housing is designed to help people with low and moderate incomes live in safe and decent housing. Subsidies are offered by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Benefits Statement
• Income Tax Returns
• Phone Book
• Calculators
• Pay Stub
• Pads Of Paper

1. Go to your local housing authority office. Find it by looking in the government section of the phone book under Housing and Urban Development.

2. Ask workers at the housing authority office for information about Section 8. This is a federal rental subsidy geared toward very low-income families, the elderly and the disabled.

3. Fill out a subsidy application. This will help determine whether you're eligible for either full or partial assistance under HUD's Section 8 program. (This is determined by your family size, income and special needs.)

4. Request a list of Section 8 properties in the area. Some will be government-owned and some will be privately owned.

5. Find out whether the properties operate under the rental certificate program or the rental voucher program. Both are Section 8 programs.

6. Call on the landlords or managers of the properties to find one that fits your needs. Ask housing authority officials about other state and local subsidized housing programs.

Tips & Warnings

• Be prepared to document your application with pay stubs, benefits statement, income tax returns and birth certificates.

• Expect to be put on a waiting list unless you fall under a preferential category. Preference is given to people who are homeless or living in substandard housing, are paying more than 50 percent of their income in rent or have been involuntarily displaced.

• Under the certificate program, families won't pay more than 30 percent of their adjusted gross income for a regulated rent price. Under the voucher program, rents are not government-controlled, which means that more or less than 30 percent of your monthly pay will go toward rent and utilities, depending on the rental amount.

• Subsidized housing requires you fall within certain income criteria and has rules that apply to the receiving of funds. Failure to adhere to these rules may make you ineligible for benefits.