NYC Reopens Its Section 8 Housing Waitlist For First Time In Almost 15 Years: What to Know

By Gus Saltonstall

For the first time since 2009, New York City reopened its waitlist on Monday for Section 8 housing applications.

Section 8, otherwise known as NYCHA’s Housing Choice Voucher Program, is a federal program created by the Housing and Community Development Act of 1978 that pays the majority of rent for low-income tenants who then typically contribute around 30 percent of their income to their housing payment.

The demand for these housing vouchers in New York City is incredibly high, which is part of the reason why the city chose to lock the waitlist 15 years ago.

The application process for the Section 8 vouchers reopened on Monday, though, and will remain open until Sunday.

“After 15 years, we are reopening NYCHA’s doors to hundreds of thousands of new Section 8 applicants and helping more New Yorkers find the housing they need,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a news release. “Addressing our city’s housing crisis means using every tool our city has, and that’s exactly what we are doing. From advancing 24 housing projects on public land this year through our ’24 in 24′ plan, to fighting for our ‘City of Yes for Housing Opportunity’ proposal to build a little more housing in every neighborhood, we are committed to helping every New Yorker find and stay in their home.”

Numbers from NYCHA show there are roughly 85,000 housing vouchers and over 25,000 households in the five boroughs who currently participate in the Section 8 program.

In terms of who can apply for the program, individuals that earn less than $54,350 annually, and a two-person household with annual earnings of less than $62,150. You can find the income breakdown for larger households — HERE.

Additionally, the vouchers give you rent assistance in privately owned apartments, not public housing.

In less than 24 hours of the waitlist being reopened, NYCHA received more than 230,000 new Section 8 applications as of 5 p.m. on Monday, according to David Brand, a leading housing reporter for Gothamist.

You can keep applying, though, until Sunday, and at the end of the application period, there will be a random selection of 200,000 applications.

You can apply and find out more — HERE.

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