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Section 8 Rental Housing: Merging Assistance Programs Has Benefits but Raises Implementation Issues

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Report Type Reports and Testimonies
Report Date May 27, 1994
Report No. RCED-94-85
Subject
Summary:

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) runs two similar rental housing subsidy programs for low-income households--the section 8 certificate and voucher programs. These two programs, which local and state housing agencies operate for HUD, enable 1.3 million poor families to live in decent, affordable, privately owned housing. Although these programs are in many ways similar, several statutory and administrative differences can affect the housing subsidy that households receive. Over the past several years, GAO, the Vice President's National Performance Review, and others have urged that the two programs be combined; legislation now before Congress would accomplish that goal. This report examines (1) the benefits of a merger, (2) the major program differences that would need to be reconciled, (3) the effect of a merger on HUD's budgeting and financial management, and (4) the effort needed to merge the two programs.

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