HUD-VASH

How It Works

HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) joins two federal agencies’ resources into one package. HUD supplies a special-purpose voucher from the Housing Choice Voucher program, administered by a local public housing agency (PHA). The VA supplies a case manager who connects the veteran to primary care, mental health and substance use treatment, and helps with budgeting, leases and landlord relations.

The process runs in a set order:

1. A PHA and its nearby VA medical center jointly register interest, and HUD and the VA award vouchers based on local need and past performance.
2. VA staff, often working with the local homelessness system, identify veterans who are clinically eligible and refer them to the PHA.
3. The PHA verifies eligibility under HUD rules and issues the voucher.
4. The veteran rents a privately owned unit and generally pays about 30% of income toward rent; the voucher covers the rest up to the local payment standard.

Most vouchers are tenant-based, meaning they move with the veteran. PHAs may also attach a share of their HUD-VASH allocation to specific buildings as project-based vouchers, which helps in tight, high-cost rental markets. The program follows a Housing First orientation, but participation in VA case management is a condition of the voucher.

Who It Serves

According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC), a veteran generally must:

• Be eligible for VA health care (with some exceptions for veterans served through partner case managers)
• Meet the federal definition of homelessness under the McKinney-Vento Act
• Need case management for serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability, while being able to live independently

The National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2021 extended eligibility to some veterans with “other than honorable” discharges. A 2024 HUD notice made two further changes: PHAs must admit veterans up to the low-income limit of 80% of area median income, and veterans’ service-connected disability benefits are excluded when determining eligibility. To check the income limits where you live, use HUD’s income limits lookup.

How to Access It

Veterans who are homeless or at risk should contact the nearest VA medical center’s homeless program or call the VA’s National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838, which is free and available around the clock. Applying to a PHA’s general voucher waiting list does not lead to a HUD-VASH voucher; referrals come through the VA.

History

HUD and the VA launched HUD-VASH in 1992. HUD distributed roughly 1,750 vouchers through competitions in 1992, 1993 and 1994, after which the program went largely dormant, according to the Congressional Research Service. Congress revived it in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 with $75 million for about 10,000 vouchers, and has funded new vouchers each year since, though in smaller amounts recently. In 2015, Congress added a set-aside, known as Tribal HUD-VASH, for Native American veterans on tribal lands.

For FY 2026, the president’s budget and the House bill proposed moving veterans’ vouchers into a new VA-run program. HUD-VASH nonetheless continued at HUD. The department’s FY 2026 voucher funding notice, issued in May 2026, allocated $15 million to the program: $5 million for new vouchers and up to $10 million for administrative fees and other program costs, according to the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). In July 2026, HUD and the VA announced 2,532 new vouchers through 265 PHAs in 44 states.

Limitations

• Case management capacity. Every voucher depends on a VA referral and VA case management, and NLIHC reports that the VA’s ability to hire case managers has not always kept pace with new vouchers.
• Finding a unit. Like other vouchers, HUD-VASH depends on landlords willing to accept it in markets where rents fit the payment standard.
• Narrow targeting. The program is designed for veterans who need intensive services, not every veteran facing a housing crisis. Others are served through programs such as the Continuum of Care Program. For the broader picture, see Homelessness, Housing First, and Supportive Housing.