Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHV)

How It Works

Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs) are tenant-based rental assistance under Section 8(o) of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, the same legal authority as the Housing Choice Voucher program. A family with an EHV rents a privately owned home, generally pays about 30% of its adjusted income toward rent, and the voucher pays the rest up to the local payment standard.

What made EHVs different was how they were funded and who they targeted. Section 3202 of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2) appropriated $5 billion, available until September 30, 2030, for:

• New emergency vouchers and their renewals
• Administrative fees and other costs to help families lease up, such as security deposit assistance and efforts to recruit and keep landlords
• Temporary adjustments for agencies facing sharp increases in regular voucher costs

HUD allocated the vouchers to public housing agencies (PHAs) by formula, and agencies could accept or decline them. The law let HUD waive many voucher rules to speed things up, but not fair housing, nondiscrimination, labor or environmental requirements.

Who It Serves

The law limited EHVs to people who were:

• Homeless, as defined by the McKinney-Vento Act
• At risk of homelessness
• Fleeing, or attempting to flee, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, stalking or human trafficking
• Recently homeless and at high risk of housing instability without assistance

Instead of drawing from a voucher waiting list, PHAs were required to work with their local Continuum of Care to identify eligible people and connect them to vouchers and support services. The appropriation funded about 70,000 vouchers. As of May 2025, nearly 60,000 households were still being assisted, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).

How to Access It

New families cannot get an EHV. The law barred agencies from reissuing a voucher to a new family after September 30, 2023, when an assisted household left the program. People who are homeless or at risk today should contact their community’s coordinated entry system or local PHA about other programs. Current EHV holders should ask their PHA whether they will be moved to a regular Housing Choice Voucher or other assistance, and when.

History

Congress created EHVs in March 2021 as part of its COVID-19 relief package, with money available through September 2030. Rents rose quickly just as the program launched: by 22% between April 2021 and April 2023, according to NLIHC. Because vouchers cover part of the rent, costs ran higher than expected. In March 2025, HUD announced that EHV funding would run out before the end of 2026, according to the Terner Center for Housing Innovation.

The FY 2026 appropriations law, enacted in February 2026, provided about $601 million for Tenant Protection Vouchers (TPVs), a type of voucher normally used when other assisted housing is lost, and included language allowing those funds to help families with EHVs keep assistance. HUD’s FY 2026 voucher funding notice (Notice PIH 2026-12, May 2026) made TPV funds available to prevent EHV shortfalls and said HUD expected enough money to cover them. It also let agencies exceed their voucher caps for EHVs already moved into their regular voucher programs.

In a letter dated May 28, 2026, NLIHC and other national housing groups said HUD was reading the law narrowly, as covering EHV shortfalls instead of authorizing new replacement vouchers, and asked for guidance on how PHAs could apply. They reported that some PHAs had told EHV families their assistance would end in 2026. In August 2026, HUD also ended a waiver that had let agencies set higher payment standards for EHVs, saying it was no longer necessary and might be straining agencies’ voucher budgets.

Limitations

• One-time money. Because EHVs had a fixed appropriation instead of annual renewals, rising rents shortened the program’s life.
• Uneven outcomes. Whether families keep assistance depends on how much room each PHA has in its regular voucher budget. The Terner Center estimated that a roughly 3.3% increase in the 2025 voucher budget for housing assistance payments would have let the program absorb every leased EHV.
• Lessons for future programs. NLIHC reports that EHVs housed people more quickly than any other new HUD voucher program. The program also shows the risk of paying for ongoing rental assistance with a one-time appropriation. See Housing Choice Vouchers Explained for how regular vouchers are funded.