Housing Tips
Social service staff may be familiar with periodic e-mails the Community Resource Center (CRC) forwards from HousingWorks. What follows is from one such e-mail. Please note that the CRC has a paid HousingWorks subscription. Social service staff can contact us to get access.
In addition to the five project Based Sec 8 buildings that we know have open waitlists (in Boston, Lynn, and on the South Shore) another building is open in Revere. The revere ones are for elders or for any age needing wheelchair, studio and 1BR.
None of these project based options are part of the Public Housing Authority, but rather the privately management subsidized housing market. You lose up to half your housing options if you only look at the Public Housing Authority inventory.
The way to locate these units is to put a client's information into the HousingWorks system using our One Stop form, which is free of charge upon request, and on the form you ask for a search around the region you want. So to find these particular units, you would do a search around Revere zip codes, Lynn zip codes, or Boston zip codes, or you could do a search for 75 miles around Boston that would include all these programs.
Every night, the HousingWorks system will see what is open and give you a list and a phone number and address to contact (if you have a free subscription); OR we will generate the applications pre-filled (if you have a paid subscription).
About Project-Based Apartments:
Given the absence of vouchers, project based section 8 units are one of the best options for your clients. The only different between a “Section 8 mobile voucher” and a “Section 8 project based unit” is that your client has to live in a particular unit in a particular building in order to qualify for the Project Based assistance, whereas with a voucher, your client can look for housing almost anywhere. So there is less choice, but more imminent chance of getting housed if you look for project based units.
Some advocates mistakenly understand that only the public housing authorities have Section 8 housing; in fact, a huge number of Project Based Section 8 apartments are privately managed subsidized housing.
Why HUD is Cutting Section 8 Vouchers:
Most of you may know that HUD seems to be trying to dismantle or reduce the Section 8 voucher system. One of the reasons HUD gives for wanting to move away from Section 8 vouchers and more towards Section 8 project based units is that they believe the vouchers are driving up rents: private landlords can charge as much as they want for rent, knowing the government will pay for up to 2/3 of the rent. However, with project based Section 8 units, HUD believes it will have more control over what the top rent will be, so it's cheaper for them to fund project based units.
-Adapted from HousingWorks e-mail 1/31/05.01/2005