State Lawmakers 'Not Giving Up' in Push for Hochul to Fund More Rental Vouchers

5,500 New York City households rely on federal housing vouchers that will expire this year, putting them at risk of homelessness. Homelessness advocates urge the state to expand the Housing Access Voucher Program, a state-run rental subsidy for low-income New Yorkers at risk of homelessness. Additional HAVP funding could replace pandemic-era Emergency Housing Vouchers that ended earlier than expected after federal funding stopped. The state launched HAVP earlier this year as a pilot, issuing about 1,000 vouchers in New York City with priority for people in the shelter system. Voucher holders typically pay about 30 percent of income toward rent, while the voucher covers the remainder. The governor’s proposal kept HAVP funding flat at $50 million, while lawmakers seek at least $250 million.

"Supporters say expanding the state's new Housing Access Voucher Program, which helps low-income New Yorkers at risk of homelessness afford a place to live, could bridge the gap for 5,500 city households whose federal rent assistance expires this year."

"Some 5,500 households across the city who rely on federal housing vouchers to afford their rent will lose that aid this year-and homelessness advocates say the state should step up to fill the gap."

"Additional HAVP funds, they say, could replace pandemic-era federal Emergency Housing Vouchers that run out this year-earlier than originally expected-after the Trump administration and Congress stopped funding them. Thousands of city households that use the vouchers could become homeless once they expire, advocates warn."

""We need Governor Hochul to step up now to ensure that vulnerable New Yorkers can remain in their homes. HAVP is clearly the best way to do this," Dave Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, said in a statement Thursday. "Doing nothing while 5,500 households in New York face homelessness is unthinkable.""

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