Dealing with expensive housing is oftentimes too much for people to handle. Especially when they are dealing with financial hardship. Sadly, it’s harder to find affordable housing than you may realize. Affordable housing is defined as costing no more than 30% of a person’s income. However, if someone makes $2,000 a month, it can be hard to find a place to stay that’s worth just $600. That is why people turn to housing assistance options. The government has created opportunities for people to get the housing help they need.

Popular Housing Assistance Programs

There are plenty of programs that you can consider. Options that can help out include:

• Public Housing
• Housing Choice Voucher Program
• Supportive Housing for the Elderly

Public Housing

A lot of people are familiar with public housing but don’t actually know what it is. Public housing provides safe and decent housing to eligible low-income households. The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) funds this housing assistance option but your local Public Housing Authority (PHA) will be the one to manage it. This means instead of a traditional landlord, the PHA is like your “landlord” since they manage the properties.

Housing Choice Voucher Program

This is another popular housing assistance option provided by HUD. Eligible recipients will be able to receive housing vouchers that can go towards housing costs. Unfortunately, these vouchers cannot be used everywhere and are only accepted by properties that allow them as a form of payment. The amount you will be eligible to receive depends on your situation and since it is such a popular program you can expect to deal with long waitlists!

Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program

Seniors have more of a risk when it comes to dealing with housing costs. That is because they may not have a reliable source of income that can afford all of their bills. That is why the government created the Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program. This program can help seniors who are 62 years old and up receive housing support assistance.

Overall

There are plenty of housing assistance opportunities that can help eligible low-income Americans. The goal of these programs is to provide the support that people need so they can reach that goal of affordable housing. When people are able to properly plan their budget out, they can use that money to improve other areas of their life from credit debt, student loans, and more.