Section 8 is an American sponsored public housing program divided into two programs, tenant-based and project-based. It is also referred to as the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program.

Summary

Federal housing assistance programs began during the Great Depression to address the country’s housing crisis. In the 1960s and 1970s, the federal government created subsidy programs to increase the production of low-income housing and to help low income families pay their rent. In 1961, the Section 23 Leased Housing Program amended the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 . This subsidy program, the predecessor to Section 8, was not a pure housing allowance program. Housing authorities selected eligible families from their waiting list, placed them in housing from a master list of available private units, and determined the rent that tenants would have to pay. The housing authority would then sign a lease with the private landlord and pay the difference between the tenant’s rent and the market rate for the same size unit. In the agreement with the private landlord, housing authorities agreed to perform regular building maintenance and leasing functions for Section 23 tenants, and annually reviewed the tenant’s income for program eligibility and rent calculations.

In the 1970s, when studies showed that the major low income housing crisis was no longer substandard housing, but the high percentage of income spent on housing, Congress passed the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974, further amending the U.S. Housing Act of 1937 to create the Section 8 Program. In the Section 8 Program, tenants pay about 30 percent of their income for rent, while the rest of the rent is paid with federal money.

The Section 8 program initially had three subprograms — New Construction, Substantial Rehabilitation, and Existing Housing Certificate programs. The Moderate Rehabilitation Program was added in 1978, the Voucher Program in 1983, and the Project-based Certificate program in 1991. In the Section 8 program, eligible families with a certificate or voucher find and lease a unit and pay a reasonable rent--a percentage of their income. The local housing authority pays the owner the remaining rent, capped by the Fair Market Rent (FMR). The housing authorities determine the reasonable rent and the FMR is determined by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The numbers of units a local housing authority can subsidize under its Section 8 programs is determined by Congressional funding. Since its inception, some Section 8 programs have been phased out and new ones created although Congress has always renewed subsidy for families participating in the program.

One of the essential features of the Section 8 voucher is the idea of portability. Eligible families may move anywhere in the United States where there is a public housing authority in jurisdiction.