MANSFIELD — A voucher for federally-funded housing assistance isn’t worth much if you can’t find a place to rent.
That’s a real-world struggle for local residents carrying a voucher from the Mansfield Metropolitan Housing Authority.
“There are not a lot of units out there,” said Steve Andrews, executive director of the MMHA.
“We have 130 people with vouchers in their hand right now, looking for a place to move in, but they’re really struggling to find it.”
In response to this challenge, the MMHA is introducing a financial incentive for landlords who sign a one-year rental agreement with a Section 8 voucher holder.
New landlords will receive $500 for the first unit signed on to the program. Landlords who already rent to a Section 8 voucher holder will receive $300 for each additional unit signed on to the program.
In order to be eligible, units must not have been rented to a Section 8 voucher holder in the last 18 months.
The incentive will be offered through November 30.
Andrews said the incentives will pay for themselves because for every voucher the MMHA administers, the agency receives $840 per year from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Tthe MMHA has offered similar incentives in the past using COVID-19 funds.
“It was effective,” Andrews said during a Tuesday board meeting. “I remember our numbers went up significantly.”
The board approved up to $20,000 for incentive payments. This time, the incentives will be paid for out of the MMHA’s general fund.
“Our assets are pretty strong, between the $1.6 million in our board general ledger and just over a $1 million dollars in our Section 8 (fund), we have $2.6 million to dip into,” Andrews said.
What’s the difference between Section 8 and Mainstream vouchers?
The MMHA administers the county’s Housing Choice Voucher program, also known as Section 8, on behalf of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The program aims to assist very low-income households, the elderly and the disabled to afford decent, safe and sanitary housing.
Mainstream vouchers operate like other housing choice vouchers, but are restricted to households where at least one non-elderly family member has a disability.
Voucher utilization rates have dipped since January
The MMHA is authorized to administer up to 1,833 housing choice vouchers and 78 mainstream vouchers each month.
Once an applicant is issued a housing voucher, they have up to 120 days to find housing. If a voucher holder does not find housing within four months, they have to wait for the waiting list to reopen and apply again.
Andrews said the county’s voucher utilization rate is higher than the national average, but has been on a steady decline since the beginning of 2024.
In January, the agency had 1,670 housing choice vouchers and 65 mainstream vouchers in use — meaning voucher holders had secured housing and were using their voucher to pay for that housing.
As of Aug. 27, the authority had 1,640 housing choice vouchers and 63 mainstream vouchers in use, with year-to-date utilization rates of 90 percent and 82 percent respectively.
“The industry average across the country is about 86 percent,” he said. “We want to shoot for 95 percent, so there’s still area for improvement.”
