Summary: The provisions of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992 allowing public housing authorities to designate units as elderly-only have had little impact on the availability of public housing for disabled people. Seventy-three of the 3,200 public housing authorities had allocation plans approved by the Department of Housing and Urban Development as of November 1, 1997, allowing them to designate 24,902 of their units as elderly-only--about 36 percent of their total housing stock for the elderly and the disabled. Nearly all of these designated units had been available previously to tenants who were elderly or who had disabilities but were younger than 62, although few were actually occupied by younger people with disabilities. GAO's survey found that, as of November 1, 1997, the number of elderly residents and disabled residents in these and other housing units for which they were eligible had not changed substantially since the housing authorities began submitting allocation plans. Designating public housing units as elderly-only may have more impact in the future, depending on how many more housing authorities opt to do so and on what the housing alternatives are for younger people with disabilities.
