A proposed rule by the Department of Housing and Urban Development would allow strict time limits and work requirements as a condition for rental subsidies, a move that critics say could put millions of people at risk of losing such aid amid record-high housing costs and homelessness.
The decision to impose new restrictions would be up to local housing authorities and private property owners who rent to people using a housing voucher, known as Section 8. Time limits could be as short as two years, and work requirements up to 40 hours a week. Those who are elderly or disabled – a majority of people with federal rental subsidies – would be exempt.
President Trump proposed a two-year limit in his White House budget last year, along with slashing rental aid by 40%, but Congress rejected that. This rule would bypass Congress, assuming it's finalized.
Housing Secretary Scott Turner has said repeatedly that he wants to help tenants get off federal aid and promote self-sufficiency. Last year, he and three other Cabinet members wrote a New York Times opinion piece calling on Congress to expand work requirements across safety net programs. They said an increasing share of public benefits are not going to the "truly needy," but to able-bodied adults who don't work.
Some 9 million people in the U.S. get federal housing assistance, and the cost of rent is unaffordable for large numbers of Americans.
"This proposal is based on false and harmful stereotypes, rather than concrete data or best practices," Deborah Thrope, deputy director at the National Housing Law Project, said in a statement. "It ignores the fact that most participants in federal housing programs who can work, do in fact work. Saving enough to move off of assistance takes a long time and a lot of support."
The case for time limits on housing subsidies
Rental assistance is not an entitlement, and demand far outstrips the funds available. For the lucky minority who do get a housing voucher or a spot in public housing, often after waiting for years, they can keep it as long as needed. Supporters say time limits could help spread limited rental aid among more people.
"There's a whole lot of people who qualify for this kind of aid who don't receive it. So there's an inefficient use of our housing, because people can stay so long," said Howard Husock, a senior fellow in domestic policy at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute.
He said time limits could also encourage upward mobility, but should be not be imposed "in a vacuum." To be effective, Husock said, a time limit should include a fixed rent and automatic savings accounts, so people can get ahead as their income rises.
Delaware State Housing Authority is one agency that's had success with such a program. Its time limit is 5-7 years, but can stretch longer in some cases.
The track record for time limits is mixed
Nationwide there are about 3,300 local public agencies that provide federally subsidized housing. Only about 140 of them currently have the flexibility to try things like time limits and work requirements, and only a few dozen have done so.
"I just don't necessarily think that a hard term limit has generated the sort of outcomes that people are looking for," Joshua Meehan told NPR last year. He advocates for these agencies as president of the Moving to Work Collaborative.
The group includes Keene Housing in New Hampshire, which Meehan now leads. It used to have a 5-year time limit but dropped it. As the deadline to end people's assistance approached it was clear their incomes had not increased by much.
"I think it's fair to assume they would have wound up back on our waiting lists," he said.
Given that track record, it's not clear whether a significant number of housing authorities would choose to adopt the new restrictions. Forcing millions of people to give up their subsidy every few years could also rattle the private landlords who lease to those with a housing voucher.
The proposed rule is scheduled to be published Monday, and will be open 60-days for public comment.
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