How to Qualify for Section 8 Housing Benefits

Demand for low-income housing outstrips its supply. As the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports, market rate rentals are "out of reach" for the nation's lowest earners. In California, for example, a minimum wage worker would have to work 128 hours a week, year-round, to afford a two-bedroom apartment at market rate, as of 2010. Alternatively, a household could afford the same unit if 3.2 minimum wage earners worked 40 hours each week. Programs, such as the Department of Housing and Urban Development's Section 8, look to provide access to affordable rental units. If you qualify for a Section 8 voucher, HUD subsidizes a significant portion of your rent.


Call or visit your local housing authority. Congress budgets money annually for the Section 8 program. HUD distributes it to local housing authorities. They run the day-to-day operation of the Section 8 program, which includes processing applicants.


Ask your housing authority whether it has Section 8 vouchers available. Most cities, particularly places in relatively expensive regions such as the Bay Area, maintain a waiting list because the number of low-income households seeking Section 8 vouchers is greater than each housing authority's allotment. If you get on a waiting list, you must "wait" for your name to come up. At that point, the housing authority evaluates your eligibility for the program.


Alert your housing authority to special circumstances that might prompt it to give you a preferential spot on its Section 8 waiting list. As HUD notes, local housing authorities set their own preferences, which often include prime positions for the homeless, people residing in substandard housing and families who allocate more than half of their income to the cost of housing.


Arrange an eligibility interview when your name comes up on the Section 8 waiting list. Bring documents with you, such as birth certificates, tax returns and pay stubs, that will help your housing authority representative verify your family size and income. Housing authorities use income as the main qualifier for the Section 8 program. If you earn more than 50 percent of your area's median income, you are ineligible for a Section 8 voucher.


Find landlords who rent to Section 8 voucher holders. Your housing authority can help you search for listings. When you find a place you like, tell your housing authority the amount of the rent. Generally, your share of the rent will not be greater than 30 percent of your gross income. Your Section 8 voucher makes up the rest. If the rent for a unit you like exceeds the payment standard HUD sets for your area, you can still rent it, however, HUD requires that you pay the amount in excess of its payment standard. The only stipulation is that your share cannot exceed 40 percent of your monthly household earnings.


  • HUD sets yearly income limits, based on household size and an area's median income, that regulate Section 8 eligibility. In the Oakland-Fremont metropolitan area, for example, a four-person household's combined annual income cannot exceed $45,150, which is half the area's median income.

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