Private Rental Housing (Housing Choice Voucher / Section 8)

The Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, also known as Section 8, was created by Congress in 1974. The HCV program is the largest affordable housing program in the United States and is funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HCV program provides rental assistance to families, the elderly and persons with special needs who have incomes up to 50 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI).

Vouchers enable participants to receive a subsidy, while leasing from their choice of landlords in the private market. The rental assistance is designed so that families are not forced to spend an unreasonable portion of the monthly income on shelter.  The program also allows families the flexibility to select the community or neighborhood in which they live. Click here to download a more detailed guide to how the HCV program works (PDF).

SPHA provides housing assistance to approximately 3,300 families through the HCV program, the HUD - Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program, and HUD’s Project-Based Voucher program. Annually, SPHA puts $23 million in housing assistance payments directly into the community.

SPHA also is required by HUD to reduce the concentration of poverty in certain areas within our jurisdiction, which includes the City of St. Petersburg and a 10-mile radius of the city. Click here to download a map of the concentration of housing vouchers within SPHA's jurisdiction (PDF).

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Information for HCV/Section 8 Residents

Wait List

SPHA'S HOUSING CHOICE VOUCHER (HCV)/SECTION 8 WAIT LIST IS CLOSED. If you already are on the wait list and would like to check your status, please click here.

Contact Your Housing Specialist

To find your Housing Specialist, please refer to this updated list of caseloads (PDF) and look for the first letters of your last name.

Income Limits and Verification

	HUD's Income Limits
	A Guide for Applicants & Tenants of Public Housing & Section 8 Program (relating to HUD's Enterprise Income Verification system)

SPHA Section 8 Administrative Plan

	SPHA Section 8 Administrative Plan, Part 1
	SPHA Section 8 Administrative Plan, Part 2

Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO)

SPHA believes that all people should have equal access to the housing of their choice and conducts our business in accordance with the Federal Fair Housing law. For more information about fair housing and your rights, please visit the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Housing / Equal Opportunity website at www.hud.gov/fairhousing.

Disaster Preparedness

During the 2011 hurricane season, SPHA is encouraging our residents to prepare for potential emergency situations. Please click here to download a flyer with helpful tips for your family (PDF).

Other Voucher Programs

HUD-VASH Vouchers

Working in partnership with the Bay Pines Veterans Affairs Medical Center (VAMC), SPHA issues housing vouchers to eligible homeless veterans, providing them with an income-based rental subsidy, through the federally funded U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) program. Veterans participating in this program also are required to work with Bay Pines VAMC case managers to help them move towards independence and to sustain self-sufficiency. SPHA administers 195 HUD-VASH vouchers, which are worth just under one million dollars of federal funding per year. For more information about this program and its eligibility requirements, please contact Bay Pine’s VASH Coordinators at 727-398-6661.

Project-Based Vouchers

The goal of HUD’s Project-Based Voucher program is to expand the availability of higher quality affordable housing units to the elderly, disabled individuals and homeless military veterans. Under the Project-Based Voucher program, the housing authority enters into an assistance contract with the owner for specified units and for a specified term.

SPHA currently is administering the following voucher programs:

• 105 Serenity Towers project-based vouchers for the low-income elderly (Learn more about Serenity Towers)
• 40 Pinellas Hope II project-based vouchers for the homeless

Click on the following link for Frequently Asked Questions (PDF) about the Project-Based Voucher program.