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Congressional Research Service
Inforrning the legislative debate since 1914
December 11, 2023
The Public Housing Program
The low-rent public housing program-authorized by
Section 9 of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937-is the nation's
oldest federal rental assistance program. It offers low-cost
apartments for low-income households. While it is arguably
the most well-known federal housing program, it is not the
largest. The number of units in the program has been
declining as properties exit it through demolition, or
through conversion to other forms of assistance (primarily
via the Rental Assistance Demonstration).
Program Administration and Basics
Public housing properties are owned and operated by more
than 3,000 state-chartered local Public Housing Authorities
(PHAs). Under the terms of their contracts with the
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD),
PHAs agree to manage their properties subject to federal
program rules (including periodic physical inspection), and
in return, HUD supplements the low rents paid to PHAs by
tenants with federal funding to support the ongoing
operation and maintenance of public housing properties.
In order to be eligible to live in public housing, individuals
and families (hereinafter, households) must be low-income
(income at or below 80% of the local Area Median Income
[AMI]), and at least 40% of units made available each year
must be occupied by households who are extremely low-
income (income at or below the greater of 30% of AMI or
the federal poverty guidelines). In addition to income
eligibility, PHAs may adopt additional screening criteria
(e.g., criminal background, rental, or credit history).
Demand for public housing generally exceeds the supply,
so there are waiting lists for assistance in most
communities. PHAs may set preferences on their waiting
lists so that certain types of applicants outrank others and
are therefore served first. PHAs may use a lottery or first-
come, first-served system for adding names to the waiting
lists, with or without preferences. Some PHAs maintain
centralized waiting lists; some have property-specific lists.
While the public housing program serves all types of
households, PHAs may designate certain properties as
specifically for persons who are elderly or have disabilities.
Households who live in public housing pay the greater of
30% of their adjusted incomes or 10% of their gross
incomes towards their housing costs (rent and utilities),
although some may opt to pay market-based flat rents.
Households remain eligible for public housing unless or
until their income reaches an over-income limit for a period
of time (generally, 120% of AMI for 24 months), at which
point they must pay market rent or move. Public housing
tenants may be evicted for lease violations, but federal law
provides them with enhanced procedural rights.
Property Characteristics
The existing public housing stock comprises nearly 920,000
units in nearly 192,000 buildings. About 2% of all public
housing properties are large, elevator structures; however,
those structures contain the plurality of public housing units
(38%). The remaining 98% of public housing properties are
a mix of townhouse/rowhouse, semi-detached, single-
family, and walk-up structures that, combined, house 62%
of public housing units.
PHAs are prohibited from increasing their number of public
housing units above the total they had in 1992, under a
provision of law commonly referred to as the Faircloth limit
(42 U.S.C. §1437g(g)). The number of public housing units
has been declining since that time, as properties age, fall
into disrepair, are demolished or sold, or are converted to
other forms of assistance. In 1993, there were
approximately 1.3 million units of public housing; in 2023,
there were just under 920,000 units (860,000 of which were
occupied; some of the unoccupied units were slated for
conversion, rehabilitation, or demolition).
Household Characteristics
While all household types are eligible for public housing-
from single adults to families with children-the
demographics of those served can be affected by factors
including waiting list preferences set by PHAs, bedroom
size configurations of properties, and the designation of
properties for special populations. As shown in Figure 1, in
2023 roughly 35% of public housing households include
children; 65% are households without children. Of the
latter, the majority are headed by persons age 62 or older.
Over time, families with children have accounted for a
smaller share of assisted households; in 2012, according to
HUD's Congressional Budget Justifications, families with
children accounted for 40% of all public housing
households.
Figure I. Head of Household Characteristics, 2023
Source: Prepared by CRS based on HUD Resident Characteristics
Report data, accessed June 2023.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.crs/govenrk0001&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)