Section 8 Housing Information

Section 8 housing refers to the Housing Choice Voucher Program, whereby an individual or family are granted subsidized funding from the federal government to rent a home or apartment.

Low-income renters may apply for Section 8 housing vouchers, a program run by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and administered for our local area by the City of Ashland Housing Authority

It received the name Section 8 from the US Housing Act of 1937, as it was established in Section 8 of that bill. Section 8 initially applied only to low-income renters and the vouchers would provide for assistance in paying the rent for various eligible properties.

However, Section 8 has since been modified to provide assistance to first-time homebuyers as well. Homeownership vouchers generally provide assistance in making mortgage payments. The City of Ashland Housing Authority does participate in this program.

Assistance for very low-income families, the disabled, and the elderly, through Section 8 Housing was established in 1974 to assist these citizens in affording safe, sanitary, and reasonably high-quality housing on the private market. Prior to Section 8 Housing, the very low-income often lived in substandard apartments and homes, or in some cases remained homeless.

Vouchers have assisted hundreds of families in moving out of these substandard housing conditions and into decent safe and sanitary housing. Vouchers also help ensure that very low-income individuals and families are no longer spending a disproportionate amount of their income on housing by limiting their rent contribution to between 30%  and 40% of their monthly income, depending on each individual case.

Section 8 Portability

Portability is the transfer process that enables Housing Choice Voucher holders to relocate and select housing anywhere in the United States.  The City of Ashland Housing Authority cooperates with other housing authorities in the portability process in order to further increase a participant’s residential choice and mobility and encourage social and economic integration.  The Housing Authority briefs Section 8 applicants and participants on the benefits of portability.  If a Housing Authority Section 8 client chooses to move under portability, he/she must contact the City of Ashland Housing Authority.  

Generally a family who applies for Section 8 cannot use a new voucher to port out of Ashland unless either the head or spouse was a resident of Ashland at the time the voucher was issued.

If you did not live in Ashland when you first applied for Section 8, you must use your Section 8 voucher to live in the City limits for at least one year. If you are not willing to live Ashland for one year, your application will be withdrawn.

For more information contact:
The City of Ashland Housing Authority
(715) 682-7066, fax: (715) 682-7189
email us: info@cityofashlandhousing.org