Title
Resolution to Amend the Administrative Plan Regarding Determining Family Unit/Voucher Size
Memorandum
The Ann Arbor Housing Commission's Housing Choice Voucher Administrative Plan details its policies and procedures for the management of its Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) Program. The AAHC periodically revises the Plan to reflect changes in HUD policies and changes in AAHC policies. Staff recommend that the AAHC Board adopt policy changes that impact the occupancy standard to increase the housing opportunities and housing stability for AAHC voucher families. The occupancy standard impacts the size of the voucher (the number of bedrooms), which impacts the number of apartments in the market place that are affordable to an AAHC voucher family.
The rental prices in the housing market are continuing to increase, particularly in Washtenaw County, where over 95% of AAHC Voucher program participants live. Over 1,000 tax credit apartments have reached the end or are about to reach the end of their affordability period and the owners are increasing the rents. AAHC staff have seen some apartments increasing by over $300/month. Many of the AAHC's voucher tenants live in these apartments and will have to move if they cannot afford the rents. Staff are recommending changes to the Occupancy Standard to compliment the changes in the Payment Standard, to enable more households to lease in place when their rents are increased, or to be able to simply find a place to rent that is affordable to them with an AAHC voucher.
In 2012, during the federal budget sequestration, HUD funding was cut significantly, and the AAHC adopted stricter occupancy standards in order to reduce the per unit voucher subsidy amount to ensure that the total program rent subsidies were within the reduced HUD budget allocation. That change enabled the AAHC to continue to provide rent subsidies to all of its existing program participants instead of terminating tenants from the program due to budget...
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