Federal rent formulas will be abandoned, the owner will be entitled to an unlimited distribution, and affordability restrictions are eliminated. While owners may be required to rent to those earning below certain incomes, residents may have to pay rents in excess of 30 percent of their income to stay in place. This is only half true. 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.