Project-based vouchers are federal rental assistance attached to a specific apartment rather than to you. They operate as a branch of the Housing Choice Voucher system: your local Public Housing Agency signs a long-term contract with a property owner to keep certain units affordable, you pay a share of the rent based on your income, and the agency pays the rest directly to the landlord. The catch is mobility. If you move out, the subsidy stays behind for the next eligible family on the list.
How This Differs From a Regular Housing Choice Voucher
With a standard tenant-based voucher, the assistance follows you. You find any landlord willing to participate, and the agency pays its share wherever you rent. A project-based voucher works the opposite way. The assistance is locked to designated units in a particular building, and when a family leaves, the next qualified applicant fills that spot.1eCFR. 24 CFR Part 983 – Project-Based Voucher (PBV) Program
The practical difference for you: a project-based voucher usually means less searching and a guaranteed affordable unit once you reach the top of the list, but your address is fixed. You gain some flexibility back after one year, which is covered further down.
Who Qualifies
Income
Your household income has to fall below a limit tied to the Area Median Income where you live, and the limit rises with family size. At least 75 percent of families a housing agency admits in a given fiscal year (across both project-based and tenant-based vouchers combined) must be “extremely low income,” meaning no more than 30 percent of local median.2eCFR. 24 CFR 983.251 – How Participants Are Selected Most families who get in have very low incomes.
The agency counts wages, benefits, child support, and most other income sources when it calculates yours. Some items are excluded, including foster care payments, insurance settlements, and earned income of children under 18.3eCFR. 24 CFR 5.609 – Annual Income
Citizenship and Immigration Status
Every household member, regardless of age, has to have verified U.S. citizenship or eligible immigration status before the family can be admitted. Citizens sign a declaration under penalty of perjury, and HUD strongly encourages agencies to require supporting documents like birth certificates or passports. Noncitizens under 62 have to provide immigration documentation accepted by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and sign a verification consent form.4U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. PHA Letter on Citizenship and Immigration Status Verification
If some members qualify and others don’t, the family can still get help on a prorated basis. The subsidy is reduced to reflect only the eligible members rather than denied outright.4U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. PHA Letter on Citizenship and Immigration Status Verification
Criminal History
Two things trigger automatic, permanent denial. The agency must deny admission if any household member has ever been convicted of manufacturing methamphetamine on the premises of federally assisted housing. It also must deny admission if any member is subject to a lifetime registration requirement under a state sex offender registry.5eCFR. 24 CFR 982.553 – Denial of Admission and Termination of Assistance for Criminals and Alcohol Abusers
Beyond those bars, agencies have wide discretion. An agency may deny your application if it determines any household member is currently using illegal drugs, has engaged in violent criminal activity, or has a pattern of behavior that could threaten other residents’ safety. Each agency sets its own lookback period, so the same record might disqualify you in one jurisdiction and not another.5eCFR. 24 CFR 982.553 – Denial of Admission and Termination of Assistance for Criminals and Alcohol Abusers
What You’ll Actually Pay in Rent
There’s no flat rent. The agency calculates your “total tenant payment” from your income. The standard formula sets your share at the higher of 30 percent of your monthly adjusted income or 10 percent of your monthly gross income.6HUD Exchange. How Is the Total Tenant Payment (TTP) and Tenant Rent Calculated For most families, the 30-percent figure controls.
If you pay your own utilities, the agency subtracts a utility allowance from your total tenant payment. When that allowance is bigger than your calculated payment, your rent to the landlord drops to zero and you receive a utility reimbursement for the difference. Agencies may charge a minimum rent of up to $50 per month, with hardship exemptions available for families in a financial emergency.7eCFR. 24 CFR 5.630 – Minimum Rent
Your income gets reexamined at least once a year, and the agency recalculates your share based on current earnings, benefits, and household size.8eCFR. 24 CFR 982.516 – Family Income and Composition: Annual Reexamination You’re also generally required to report income changes between annual reviews.
How to Apply
Documents to Gather First
Before you start, pull together identification and financial records for every person who will live in the unit. You’ll generally need Social Security cards, government-issued photo ID for all adults, and birth dates for each member.9U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Housing Choice Voucher Tenants For income, gather recent pay stubs, your most recent tax return or W-2, and benefit letters from any source paying you money such as Social Security or unemployment. If you receive child support, a payment history from the state registry helps document that income.
Your current housing situation matters too. If you’re facing eviction, staying in a shelter, or experiencing homelessness, bring documentation. Many agencies give priority to families in those circumstances, and having proof ready affects where you land on the waiting list.
Submitting the Application
Most agencies accept applications through online portals, and some still take paper submissions at their offices or by mail. If you mail a paper application, certified mail gives you a dated receipt. Check that names and income figures match your supporting documents exactly. Discrepancies slow things down or trigger extra verification.
Applicants with disabilities can request a reasonable accommodation at any point in the process. You can ask in person or in writing, and the agency cannot require a specific form. Accommodations might include getting materials in an accessible format, extra time to gather documents, or communication through a representative. HUD recommends agencies respond to these requests within 10 business days.10HUD Exchange. Reasonable Accommodations in Public Housing
The Waiting List
Once your application is accepted, you go on a waiting list. Agencies structure these lists differently: some keep a single list for all project-based units, some combine project-based and tenant-based lists, and others keep separate lists for individual buildings.2eCFR. 24 CFR 983.251 – How Participants Are Selected The agency’s administrative plan says which approach it uses.
Most agencies apply local preferences that move certain applicants up the list. Veterans, elderly individuals, people with disabilities, and families experiencing homelessness commonly get priority, though the specifics vary.
Keeping your spot requires staying in contact. Report every change to your address, phone number, or household size promptly. Agencies periodically mail update letters asking whether you still want to remain on the list, and missing the response deadline gets your application removed. Waits in high-demand areas can run years, so treat every piece of mail from the housing agency as time-sensitive.
Living in the Unit
You Can Move After One Year
You have to live in the assigned unit as your primary residence to keep receiving assistance. The subsidy doesn’t follow you if you leave. But after one year in the unit, you gain the right to request a tenant-based voucher that would let you move to any qualifying rental on the private market. Contact the housing agency before giving your landlord notice.11eCFR. 24 CFR 983.261 – Family Right to Move
The agency must offer you continued tenant-based assistance when you exercise this right. If no voucher is immediately available, you receive priority for the next one. The project-based subsidy stays with the unit you left.
If Your Family Grows or Shrinks
If your household changes size to the point where your unit is the wrong fit, the agency has to notify you and the property owner within 30 days. It then has 60 days to offer continued assistance, which could mean moving to a properly sized unit in the same building, transferring to another project-based development, or getting a tenant-based voucher. If none of those work, the agency removes the unit from the contract and issues you a voucher to find a right-sized apartment elsewhere.12eCFR. 24 CFR 983.260 – Overcrowded, Under-Occupied, and Accessible Units
Protections for Survivors of Domestic Violence
Federal law prohibits agencies and property owners from denying admission, terminating assistance, or evicting a tenant because they are a victim of domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking. An incident of violence against a tenant cannot be treated as a lease violation by the victim or used to end their assistance.13eCFR. 24 CFR 5.2005 – VAWA Protections
If you are in danger, you can request an emergency transfer. You qualify if you reasonably believe staying in your current unit puts you at risk of further harm. For sexual assault victims, an incident that occurred on the premises within the previous 90 days also qualifies. The agency is required to keep an emergency transfer plan, and project-based tenants who have lived in their unit at least one year must be prioritized for the next available tenant-based voucher when they need to relocate for safety.14HUD Exchange. Do Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) Transfers Take Priority Over All Other
How You Can Lose Your Assistance and What to Do About It
An agency can terminate your voucher for serious or repeated lease violations, failure to report income changes, fraud on your application, and criminal activity by a household member. Extended absence from your unit can also trigger termination, though federal rules leave each agency to define how long is too long in its administrative plan.15eCFR. 24 CFR 982.312 – Absence From Unit
Before assistance is actually cut off, you have the right to request an informal hearing. The agency cannot terminate you until the deadline for requesting a hearing has passed and any hearing you do request has been completed. The purpose of the hearing is to determine whether the agency’s decision follows the law, HUD regulations, and the agency’s own policies. This is one of the strongest protections in the program. If you receive a termination notice and believe the decision is wrong, request the hearing right away rather than waiting.