Approximately one-half of the 900,000 units are in the older assisted category, projects built in the 1960s and 1970s with below market interest rates. Assuming this to be true, the federal government will pay more than the current rent for a voucher to a family currently residing in older assisted housing. Vouchers are a valuable tool in any affordable housing delivery system. But they are not a substitute for maintaining a supply of affordable housing, especially when choices must be made about how to invest limited resources. There is no basis to assume that low-income residents have incomes sufficient to pay higher rents.
Higher rents are a certainty for tens of thousands of apartments.
To mitigate these impacts, HUD proposed that, as contracts expire, residents of Section 8 units and others who are or become rent burdened would receive two-year vouchers. Further, HUD posits that vouchers work best with adequate counseling and where discriminatory barriers are reduced. Thus, HUD requested from Congress tens of thousands of additional vouchers to make Mark to Market work with older assisted housing. In July, the House Appropriations Committee rejected HUD's request and voted for no additional Section 8 certificates, thus denying certificates for households that become rent burdened due to Mark to Market rent hikes. The National Housing Trust estimates displacement to be well over 175,000 households, based on more realistic ratios of rents to income, the fact that there will be no additional Section 8 certificates provided by Congress, and factoring in stock lost due to deterioration.