Section 8/Low Income/Govt Assisted Housing

[brimz]

Hi i'm posting this here as their seems to be plenty of Americans that frequent the S/O .

Right so can someone please explain how Section 8 Housing works please who is eligible /not eligible is it nationwide or state by state etc.

In England we have what we call Social Housing which is for people on low income although not necessarily , Disability , Welfare.

Often the housing can be second rate & on large Estates not unlike The Projects in the U.S.A but it is considerably cheaper.
Their are long waiting lists and often people can be on them for years before getting housed.

These days to prevent some of the disasters of the past the Govt. has made it law that for every new housing development built in the private sector a % of the stock has to go to social housing
This has been done to stop all the less well off and disadvantaged ending up in the same place thus creating a ghetto enviroment.
I live in Social housing BTW .


Hopefully someone can explain how the Social Housing & in particular Section 8 works in the U.S.
Thanks

 

[Mariposa]

I will give your question a go. I'm a native born US citizen/national. I can't give legal advice, but I asked a friend who is in that position.

Section 8 is part of a federal housing act passed after the Great Depression. It is intended to help people who are in low-income brackets or disabled (as defined under federal and state law) retain a safe place to live instead of being homeless. Basically, the sick, the elderly, etc., are guaranteed by the federal government a certain amount of money in the form of a voucher to pay their rent to the private leaseholder of their choice, up to a certain amount dependent on the rental market. Since the US federal government delegates certain matters to the individual states through programs (which are both federally and state-funded), there are a lot of variables.

The intended purpose is to keep people off the streets. Section 8 vouchers aren't issued lightly and there is a huge wait-list to even become eligible. Spots are allocated on a lottery-type system. Some leaseholders will not accept Section 8 funding, but if they do, they need to live up to compliance standards. The apartment or house has to be clean, safe, and liveable.

There are many other social programs to help those in need in the US. While we generally support privatization, we also recognize that people are in need... and the situation isn't getting any better with the state of our economy. In my state of residence (California) where the climate and conditions are relatively favorable, the state government is the authority someone in need of aid would first contact. The 14th Amendment to the US Constitution delegates matters of this sort (and others) to individual states.

Confusing? Yes. Huge waiting times are the norm, even for veterans and significantly disabled folks. The individual state administers its programs as defined and delegated. There is an alphabet soup of acronyms.

tl;dr: in the US, many people live paycheck to paycheck. Programs for financial reform and education aren't adequate. Most of us are hard workers, and many of us have families to feed.

 

[beagleboy]

Brimz, are you planning on applying for Section 8?
Im on section 8. I moved from near Canada down to Florida, and my section 8 voucher went with me. The transition was seamless.
Section 8 is Dope.........for example, I'll give you a rundown of my stuff...

My rent without electric and water ( sewage and trash are included. Water wasnt feasible for my LandLady ) totals $735 a month. I am required to pay her $195 while Section 8/HUD pays the rest. HUD pays $540.

But.......heres an interesting bit of information. Back in NY, my former apt listed in the paper for $450. The landlord wanted $450, no matter if you have a Section 8 voucher or not. In Florida, standard practice by landlords is to charge a lower price if you dont recieve section 8. My apts ( 1br, 1bth, washer and dryer in my apt, tiled floors, two ac units, elec heaters ) rent for someone with no section 8 is $565. But I have a Section 8 voucher so my rent is $735. Pretty basic stuff. I think the Landlords are allowed to charge more for HUD recipients because they have to go through training and do more paperwork. %)

 

[brimz]

cheers for the great posts guys%)

Another quik ?

Do you find or have you experienced any stigma from the more well off / judgemental cockheads

In the U.K we do if you are born on or are L/T Social Housing folk see you as bellow them . They may not say it but trust me you can feel it .

I advocate affordable housing for one and all & myself am proud of my appt. i have had 3 over the last 11 years as you can apply to move .

My present home ( 6 months old ) is on a brand new development where 20% is assisted & the rest private.
Some of the large houses are priced @ £800,000 up

Because i have been with social housing for over 10 years i have the right to buy my property at a discounted price also the tenancy is secured for life .
For people that have only recently been housed this privilege is no longer in place .

One of the reasons for this goes back to the 1980s when people were getting huge discounts to encourage house ownership .
In some places where a good deal of the housing was Victorian & Georgian enterprising folk snapped up some fantastic period properties for appx. £40,000 that are now worth say £500,000 and obviously have tremendous rental value.

The problem with this is all the good places were sold off leaving the undesirable stock to turn in to poorly maintained marginalised ghettos.

With this new approach of making 20% of all property built available to low income etc. hopefully things will be better.
The way i see it is that many of the high rise / Project housing was just that "a social project"
One that had few success stories worldwide .

 

[beagleboy]

Yes, people sometimes do "look down" upon those who receive section 8.
I understand section 8 to be a quality Social Program, and am able to explain it to others in that light. Section 8 does have rules that discriminate against convicted drug manufacturers, drug abusers and wife beaters, and thats a good thing, right?