FACT SHEET: HUD Awards More Than 19,000 New Housing Choice Vouchers in Most Expansive Allocation of Flexible Rental Assistance in 20 Years

FACT SHEET: HUD AWARDS MORE THAN 19,000 NEW HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHERS IN MOST EXPANSIVE ALLOCATION OF FLEXIBLE RENTAL ASSISTANCE IN 20 YEARS

"The Biden-Harris Administration is leading a historic expansion of housing vouchers. With the new Housing Choice Vouchers HUD is announcing today, along with steps HUD is taking to make it easier for households to use vouchers, families across the country will have greater access to safe, stable, and affordable housing and the opportunities that come with it."
- HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge

Today, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Secretary Marcia L. Fudge will travel to Falls Church, Virginia to announce the awarding of more than 19,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers to almost 2,000 Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) across the country. This will be the most expansive allocation of flexible new rental assistance in 20 years.

Since taking office, the Biden-Harris Administration has repeatedly acted to help vulnerable renter households attain quality and stable housing through a historic expansion of the housing voucher program. The American Rescue Plan and Fiscal Year (FY) 2022 budget collectively provided nearly 100,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers, including the more than 19,000 vouchers being announced today. In June, HUD announced $43 million in FY21 funding to fund approximately 4,000 new incremental housing choice vouchers, or "Stability Vouchers," focused on people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, including in rural areas. The American Rescue Plan also included $5 billion to create housing and services for people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and provided tens-of-billions of dollars for Emergency Rental Assistance, which improved housing stability for over 6 million unique households, including 700,000 HUD-assisted households.

The Administration recognizes the importance of housing vouchers to securing affordable housing, and is fighting for an additional increase to the program. The President's Fiscal Year 2023 HUD Budget requests $1.6 billion for an additional 200,000 new housing vouchers.

HUD believes that every eligible household should have access to a voucher. Making market-rate housing that is affordable for lower-income families is an essential element of addressing the housing affordability crisis. HUD is committed to providing relief for renters: more vouchers available to families who need them and increased value of those vouchers to make more homes affordable. Today's announcement will help more people across the country access affordable housing, particularly people experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Most Expansive Allocation of New Flexible Rental Assistance in 20 Years

Secretary Fudge is announcing new Housing Choice Vouchers to nearly every community in the country - from rural to suburban to urban, and from smaller communities to major metropolitan areas. Some communities will receive their first allocation of new vouchers in decades. Today's announcement includes:

More Than 19,000 New Housing Choice Vouchers to Nearly 2,000 Public Housing Agencies: HUD is awarding approximately 19,359 Housing Choice Vouchers to 1,945 PHAs across the country. The total award amount is $214,519,250. Funding for these vouchers was included in the FY 2022 appropriations act and was based on the President's FY 2022 budget request. A list of the awards is available here.

Making it Easier for Families to Access Affordable Housing with Vouchers

Over the past 18 months, 355,000 families have received and successfully used vouchers to rent homes at an affordable cost. But too many others were unable to use their vouchers, partly because the value of their vouchers had not kept up with rapid rent increases.

The 2023 Fair Market Rents (FMRs), which HUD published on September 1 and which go into effect on October 1, will make it easier for voucher holders to lease in most markets. The new FMR levels will enable the voucher program to keep up with rent increases in the private market. These new FMRs will allow voucher holders to access and secure leases in more units so that they can benefit from the housing affordability and stability that vouchers provide. HUD's action on FMRs will improve the utilization of both the baseline vouchers and the supplemental vouchers created under the Biden-Harris Administration.

Fighting for Additional New Housing Vouchers to Increase Affordable Housing Access for More Families

The Biden-Harris Administration has increased the size of the housing voucher program. In addition to the vouchers being awarded today, HUD awarded nearly 70,000 new Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs) through the American Rescue Plan for people at risk of or experiencing homelessness or fleeing domestic violence. More than 33,000 households are already using EHVs to rent affordable homes, and other 36,000 households with EHVs are actively searching for housing. The new HCVs will have similar flexibilities to the EHVs.

The President's Fiscal Year 2023 HUD Budget request for an additional 200,000 new housing vouchers is about 10 times the number of vouchers being awarded today. This would be the largest one-year increase in vouchers since the program was authorized in 1974 and would support affordable housing and provide greater access to areas of opportunity. The proposed vouchers prioritize survivors of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking, and human trafficking, and households experiencing homelessness.

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