The Department of Housing and Urban Development wants to limit the amount of time people can get federal rental subsidies and add work requirements as a condition of funding, according to an internal document seen by NPR.
Only a few local housing authorities currently have the authority granted by Congress to impose such restrictions if they choose. The agency is writing a rule that would vastly expand that number — bypassing Congress in the process.
A HUD spokesperson offered no confirmation or details on the proposal, but pointed to the two-year time limit in President Trump's recent budget proposal, "which will be immensely helpful to empower families and individuals to achieve self-sufficiency and economic independence."
Any rule would be subject to a public comment period before being finalized, and could potentially face a legal challenge over the lack of congressional approval.
Millions of people could be subject to new restrictions
Some nine million people in the U.S. get federal housing assistance. Most are elderly or disabled, and would be exempt from the new policies, according to a HUD employee familiar with the plans for a time limit rule, who requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
But that still leaves millions who could face harsh consequences, especially at a time when the cost of rent is increasingly unaffordable for large numbers of Americans. "It would have a devastating impact on families," said Deborah Thrope, deputy director at the National Housing Law Project.
She and other housing policy experts say there's little evidence that either time limits or work requirements increase employment or help people move off subsidies. The policies, Thrope said, "don't make housing more affordable. … They're not increasing the wages for those families."
Several housing experts said a time limit alone could be considered an implied work requirement. But last month, Housing Secretary Scott Turner and three other Cabinet members wrote a New York Times opinion piece calling on Congress to expand work requirements across safety net programs. They said an increasing share of public benefits are not going to the "truly needy," but to able-bodied adults who don't work.
The HUD rule would be a different way to push more people to work more hours, instead of going through Congress.
Advocates say most who receive federal rental assistance and can work already do, and those who don't may be caring for family members with a health problem, or have small children and are unable to afford daycare.
The case for time limits on housing subsidies
Supporters say time limits could spread limited rental aid among more people.
Rental assistance is not an entitlement, and demand far outstrips the funds available. For the lucky minority who do get a housing voucher or a spot in public housing, often after waiting for years, they can keep it as long as needed.
"There's a whole lot of people who qualify for this kind of aid who don't receive it. So there's an inefficient use of our housing, because people can stay so long," said Howard Husock, a senior fellow in domestic policy at the conservative-leaning American Enterprise Institute.
He said time limits could also encourage upward mobility, but should not be imposed "in a vacuum." To be effective, Husock said, a time limit should include a fixed rent and automatic savings accounts, so people can get ahead as their income rises.
It's not clear that HUD's rule would include such things. Trump's own budget proposal called for gutting a self-sufficiency program that promotes savings accounts, and for slashing HUD's rental assistance by 43%.
The track record is mixed, and some places have dropped time limits
There are about 3,300 local housing authorities nationwide, but fewer than 140 have the flexibility to try out different things like time limits and work requirements. Even among those few, the policies are not popular.
"I just don't necessarily think that a hard term limit has generated the sort of outcomes that people are looking for," said Joshua Meehan, president of the Moving to Work Collaborative, which advocates for this smaller group of housing authorities. Since Moving to Work was created in the mid-1990s, the collaborative said only 40 housing authorities have tried time limits or work requirements at some point, and 20 currently have one or both.
Meehan also leads the Keene Housing authority in New Hampshire, which used to have a five-year time limit. But when the deadline to drop people's assistance approached, it was clear their incomes hadn't increased by much.
"I think it's fair to assume they would have wound up back on our waiting lists," he said.
Keene Housing is among those that have chosen to drop their time limits.
Shorter-term rent vouchers might disrupt the affordable housing market
Given that track record, it's not clear whether a significant number of housing authorities would choose to adopt time limits. But if they did, forcing millions of people to give up their subsidy every few years could rattle the landlords who lease to those with a housing voucher.
Many have left the program as the housing market has grown intensely competitive in recent years, and time limits could push out more, according to the HUD employee who requested anonymity.
This person also worried the ripple effect of cutoff dates could make the severe lack of affordable housing even worse.
"Private investors and lenders would not invest in much needed affordable housing development due to the high turnover and vacancies that would come from a two-year term limit," the employee said. "Ultimately, this proposal would result in increases in street homelessness in communities across the country."
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