City Council urges property owners to rent to families

The federal Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program allows low-income residents to pay 30% of their income towards rent, while the Boston Housing Authority (BHA) pays the remainder due to the landlord or property owner, thereby enabling participants to be stably housed in Boston despite rising rents.



Five hundred homeless families, most of them residing in state shelters, are currently holding BHA federal housing vouchers and are actively searching for permanent housing to enable their families to safely follow physical distancing guidelines and stay at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.



As announced last week, an additional 1,000 housing vouchers will be given to Boston Public School (BPS) families facing housing instability over the coming months, in a partnership between the BHA and BPS.



The current public health crisis has highlighted the importance of home to student learning, and conversely how many local families rely on BPS as a source of stability, food, community, and basic services while experiencing housing instability.



Many property owners across the City have units that are currently vacant due to normal churn in the property market, or to the sudden recent departure of students and other tenants from Boston as a result of COVID-19, and may be losing money on these vacant units.



This week, the Council adopted the resolution urging any local landlord or property owner with any units that are currently vacant in the City of Boston to reach out to the BHA and express a willingness to house families using Tenant-Based or Project-Based Housing Choice Vouchers.