HUD Makes Regulatory Changes in Aim of Boosting Affordable Housing

“We simplified the program (the Project Based Voucher),” he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We will make it easier for housing authorities to get the funding they need to build more units and allow people to sign up for a site-based list so they can choose the community in which they want to live.”

HUD officials say the rule changes will increase the supply of affordable housing — a key policy concern for President Joe Biden as he campaigns for a second term.

Most of the changes will come into effect on June 6.

HUD says public housing authorities can pair project-based voucher aid with manufactured housing, which some experts say could ease the housing crisis.

Officials say the new policies will boost affordable housing by allowing project-specific waiting lists to help families move into housing more quickly; help people find housing by giving public housing authorities greater flexibility to adjust voucher rents based on fair local market rates; and strengthen tenant protection.

Monocchio said the changes build on Biden’s fiscal 2025 budget, which includes a $258 billion investment in affordable housing to build or preserve two million new units.

He said officials chose Atlanta and Ashford Parkside Apartments to make the announcement because “you couldn’t find a better backdrop” for the grant programs to operate.

The apartments aimed at seniors 62 and older are on the site of the former Johnson Ferry East public housing community and are part of a mixed-income development called Brookleigh. Ashford Parkside comprises 151 independent senior living units in a mid-rise apartment complex.

Monocchio said that even though Greater Atlanta is booming, a rapidly growing population poses a challenge for housing officials.

“The only thing we need to make sure is that people of average means still have the chance to live in these communities. That’s where these programs come in,” he said.