STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Thousands of low-income families across New York City have hit the jackpot in a new lottery that will give them the opportunity to secure affordable housing.
On Thursday, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) announced that 200,000 households have been randomly selected via lottery for the city’s new Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) waitlist. Section 8 HCV is a federally funded program administered by NYCHA that provides rental subsidies to low-income families to rent apartments in the private market.
“It’s truly a momentous occasion for the Authority to add 200,000 new applicants to NYCHA’s Housing Choice Voucher waitlist,” said NYCHA Chief Executive Officer Lisa Bova-Hiatt. “It’s been 15 years since the waitlist was last open to the general public, so it’s a tremendous feeling — having spent that time working through the bulk of the existing waitlist — to now begin issuing vouchers to new families and individuals in search of affordable housing options in the private market.”
The application process, which ran from June 3 through June 9, marked the first time the program’s waitlist has been open to general applications since December 10, 2009.
During the one-week application period, NYCHA received more than 638,000 applications, of which 200,000 have now been randomly selected and added to the highly sought after waitlist.
“The message is clear: New Yorkers need affordable housing and they it need now,” said Mayor Eric Adams. “NYCHA will begin the work of issuing housing vouchers, providing much-needed relief to families searching for affordable housing. However, our work is far from over. Our administration will continue to use every possible tool, including advocating for the passage of ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity,’ to build and connect New Yorkers to the affordable housing our city’s residents need.”
Lottery applicants are currently being notified via email as to whether they made the waitlist, with hard copies of their notifications being distributed by mail in the coming weeks.
Those who have been selected will be given the opportunity to create an online profile and track the status of their application by logging into NYCHA’s Self-Service Portal.
Selected households will then be contacted regarding next steps in the application process, which includes submitting all necessary documents, including proof of income.
The Housing Authority plans to issue roughly 1,000 vouchers per month pending funding and the authorized voucher capacity, meaning even those selected could be waiting years to receive their voucher if they find themselves towards the bottom of the list.
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To qualify for the program, households must have a gross income of 50% or below the area median income and pay 30% of their adjusted monthly income toward rent, with the subsidy covering the rest.
“As our administration responds to the housing crisis, it’s vital that New Yorkers in need of Section 8 vouchers have this opportunity to receive them,” said Deputy Mayor for Housing, Economic Development, and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer. “NYCHA’s forthcoming issuance of 1,000 vouchers a month will be a lifeline to 200,000 New Yorkers who need affordable housing.”
For more information on the program, visit NYCHA’s website.
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