People with low incomes in Phoenix will have a chance to apply for a housing voucher for the first time in 11 years.
Section 8 vouchers help low-income earners pay the cost of rent. Tenants accepted to the program have to pay at least 30 percent of their adjusted gross monthly income toward rent, while the vouchers cover the rest. The Phoenix program’s waiting list has been closed since 2005.
The waiting list will open up Aug. 8. The city had planned previously to open the waiting list next week.
The online application form needed some reworking, said Nicole Ayoola, housing manager for the Phoenix Section 8 program. “We’re actually going to create a Spanish application as well, but that requires additional programming."
The waiting list will remain open for a week, or until 10,000 people apply. Ayoola anticipates it will take four to five years to sort through the applicants and open the waiting list again.
Editor's Note: The waiting list opens Aug. 8, not Aug. 6.