New HUD-VASH Policies Expand Veterans' Housing Access
This month, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced new policy changes that will help more veterans receive assistance under the HUD-Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) Program.
Veterans experiencing homelessness often receive VA benefits as a result of an injury or illness that was acquired or worsened during military service. Before this change, these benefits were considered income when determining eligibility for certain supportive housing developments—causing some veterans to exceed the income threshold for these programs. HUD’s policy changes will help more homeless veterans with service-connected disability benefits gain access to these housing developments.
HUD is expanding veterans' access to HUD-VASH by:
- Requiring public housing agencies (PHAs) that administer HUD-VASH to set the initial income eligibility for veterans at 80% of Area Median Income, rather than 50% of Area Median Income. The use of this higher initial income eligibility threshold is currently optional and many housing agencies have already adopted the higher threshold, but HUD is now making this increase mandatory.
- Adopting an alternative definition of annual income for applicants and participants of the HUD-VASH program that excludes veterans’ service-connected disability benefits when determining eligibility. This alternative annual income definition could be adopted by other housing subsidy programs to determine income eligibility.
The revised HUD-VASH operating requirements also include additional policy changes that will improve the administration of the HUD-VASH program. This will allow PHAs the authority to:
- Make non-competitive awards of project-based HUD-VASH contracts to housing projects or units on VA facilities that serve HUD-VASH families;
- Approve Exception Payment Standards as a Reasonable Accommodations up to 140% of the Fair Market Rent;
- Set a separate minimum rent policy (including a zero minimum rent) for HUD-VASH participants.
In addition to these policy changes, HUD awarded $20 million to 245 public housing agencies in 43 states currently administering HUD-VASH. With this funding, PHAs are encouraged to expand their housing search assistance to support veterans, expand landlord recruitment for the program, offer incentives and retention payments, help veterans with security deposits, and provide landlord-tenant mediation activities.