Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) (HCV)

How It Works

The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, still widely called Section 8, helps lower-income households rent homes in the private market. HUD funds it and contracts with roughly 2,100 local public housing agencies (PHAs) to run it, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC).

The basic arrangement has three parties:

• The household finds a unit and generally pays about 30% of its adjusted income toward rent and utilities.
• The landlord agrees to rent to the household, signs a contract with the PHA, and receives the rest of the rent directly from the PHA.
• The PHA makes sure the unit passes inspection for basic quality, confirms the rent is reasonable, and pays its share each month. A law enacted in July 2026 (Public Law 119-101) lets a passing inspection from the previous 12 months under the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, HOME or USDA Rural Housing Service programs satisfy the requirement, as long as the PHA can obtain the results.

The PHA’s share is capped by a payment standard, which by law must normally fall between 90% and 110% of HUD’s fair market rent for the area. If a household picks a unit renting above the payment standard, it pays the difference. When a household first leases a unit, its share cannot exceed 40% of its adjusted monthly income.

Vouchers are portable. A household can generally take its voucher to any area where a PHA runs the program. A PHA may restrict moves during the first year for households that did not already live in its jurisdiction when they applied.

PHAs may also attach some of their vouchers to specific buildings as project-based vouchers. PHAs that choose to offer a homeownership option can let voucher holders put their assistance toward buying a home.

Who It Serves

Most new voucher holders must be very low income (at or below 50% of area median income). Federal law requires that at least 75% of the households a PHA admits from its waiting list each year be extremely low income: at or below 30% of AMI or the federal poverty guideline, whichever is higher. Some households up to 80% of AMI can qualify under PHA-specific criteria.

NLIHC reports that more than 2.3 million households held vouchers as of September 30, 2024. Among voucher households in 2023, 77% were extremely low income, 35% had an elderly head of household, and 26% included a person with a disability. Detailed annual data are in HUD’s Picture of Subsidized Households.

How to Access It

Contact the PHA that serves the area where you live or want to live. Most keep a waiting list and open it only periodically. Many set local preferences, for example for people experiencing homelessness or for local residents.

After receiving a voucher, a household typically has at least 60 days to find a unit; PHAs can extend that time. In most places landlords are not required to accept vouchers. Some states and cities ban source-of-income discrimination, and properties assisted through the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, HOME or national Housing Trust Fund programs may not turn away an otherwise qualified applicant because of a voucher.

History

Congress created Section 8 in the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 as an amendment to the Housing Act of 1937. The tenant-based piece began as existing housing certificates. A separate voucher model followed in the 1980s. The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 merged certificates and vouchers into a single program and renamed it the Housing Choice Voucher program.

Limitations

• Not an entitlement. The number of vouchers depends on annual appropriations. NLIHC estimates that only about one in four households eligible for federal rental assistance receive any. Waiting lists can run for years.
• Hard-to-use vouchers. In tight or high-cost markets, payment standards can lag rents, and landlords can choose higher-income renters. HUD requires PHAs in some metro areas to set payment standards by ZIP code using Small Area Fair Market Rents to widen choices.
• Funding and policy uncertainty. For fiscal year 2026, Congress provided about $34.96 billion to renew existing vouchers (Public Law 119-75, enacted February 3, 2026). Fiscal year 2027 began on October 1, 2026 without a full-year HUD spending bill; NLIHC reported that a temporary funding measure runs through December 11, 2026. In March 2026, HUD proposed a rule that would let PHAs require work-eligible adults to work up to 40 hours a week and set time limits of two years or more for voucher families that are not elderly or disabled. As of October 1, 2026, that rule had not been finalized.

For a fuller walkthrough, see Housing Choice Vouchers Explained.