Public Housing

Public Housing was established to provide decent and safe rental housing for eligible low-income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities. Public Housing comes in all sizes and types, from scattered single-family houses to high-rise apartments for elderly families. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) administers Federal aid to local housing agencies (HAs) that manage the housing for low-income residents at rents they can afford.

Public Housing is limited to low-income families and individuals. The HA determines your eligibility based on: 1) annual gross income; 2) whether you qualify as elderly, a person with a disability, or as a family; and 3) U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status. Background checks are also performed to determine eligibility.

Your rent, which is referred to as the Total Tenant Payment (TTP) in this program, would be based on your family's anticipated gross annual income less allowances/deductions if any. HUD regulations allow HAs to decrease or deduct from the annual income the following allowances: $480 for each dependent, $400 for an elderly family or person with a disability, and some medical deductions for families headed by an elderly person or a person with disabilities. Based on your application, the HA representative will determine if any of the allowable deductions should be subtracted from your annual income. Annual income is the anticipated total income from all sources received from the family head and spouse and each additional member of the family 18 years of age or older.

The formula used in determining the TTP is the highest of the following, rounded to the nearest dollar:

30 percent of the Monthly Adjusted Income. (Monthly Adjusted Income is annual income less deductions allowed by the regulations;
10 percent of monthly income;
Welfare rent, if applicable; or a $50 minimum rent.