LOCALIZE IT: 1.4 million could lose housing under Trump's proposed time limit on HUD subsidies
Havalah Hopkins, a single mother who lives in government-subsidized housing with her teenage son, goes to check on her son playing outside Thursday, July 10, 2025, in Woodinville, Wash. (AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson)
More than a million low-income households — most of them working families with children — who depend on the nation’s public housing and Section 8 voucher programs could be at risk of losing their government-subsidized homes under the Trump administration’s proposal to impose a two-year time limit on rental assistance, experts say.
That’s according to new research from New York University, obtained exclusively by The Associated Press, which suggests a two-year time limit could affect as many as 1.4 million households helped by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
HUD says people have stayed in its signature rent programs for too long and time-limits would push households towards self-sufficiency. At a June hearing, HUD Secretary Scott Turner argued reforms like time limits will fix waste and fraud in public housing and Section 8 voucher programs.
But of the 17 housing authorities identified by New York University researchers that have tried time limits of longer than two years, 11 ended their policy. Several authorities found that households still couldn’t afford rent once their time was up.
A national time limit could be catastrophic, experts say. Amid a national affordable housing and homelessness crisis, time limits would be a seismic shift that could destabilize the most vulnerable households, many unlikely to ever afford today’s record-high rents.
Landlords are also hesitant to stay in a once-reliable voucher program amid uncertainty about the future of voucher funding and the possibility of two-year time limits. Elderly and people with disabilities would be exempt.
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READ AP’S COVERAGE
1.4M of the nation’s poorest renters risk losing their homes with Trump’s proposed HUD time limit
Families, kids most at risk of losing HUD housing with Trump’s proposed time limits
Digital Ready Video: AP Exclusive: Trump proposal to limit federal housing aid would impact 1.4 million households
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FIND YOUR STATE: DIRECTORY OF HOUSING AUTHORITY PROGRAMS
There are over 3,000 housing authorities across the U.S. that could be affected by Trump’s proposed two-year time limits on Section 8 vouchers and public housing.
Find your local housing agency here.
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FIND YOUR STATE: EXPERIMENTING WITH HUD TIME LIMITS
Rental time limits are not an option for the vast majority of public housing authorities, but in 1996, HUD launched the Moving to Work Collaborative that grants flexibility to consider testing a time limit and use funds for programs such as job training and counseling tailored to local communities.
Of the 139 agencies that have been in the Moving to Work program, 17 housing authorities have tried time limits, and 11 discontinued the trial. None tried two-year limits — the most common policy was a five-year limit on assistance with the option to extend it for two years. And most of the time limits only applied to specific programs or referrals.
We’ve listed the programs below that tried and discontinued time limits or still use them.
If the status says “not yet implemented” that means they have asked HUD for permission to impose time limits or suggested they might impose them in the future. In Kentucky, one housing authority with time limits has proposed closing them out and that means they indicated they want to end the program but it’s unclear whether they have been permitted to go through with it.
There are opportunities for reporting on the reasons why the housing authorities in the cohort did or didn’t opt into the rental limits, and why they kept using them or chose to cancel them if they did participate.
You can also view these housing authorities on this AP map that includes more details on the time limits. Find an embed code for publishing at the end of the guide.
ALASKA
Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (limits not yet implemented, 5-7 years)
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CALIFORNIA
Housing Authority of the County of San Bernardino (has time limits, 5 years)
San Diego Housing Commission (tried/ended time limits, 5 years)
San Mateo Housing Authority (has time limits, 5 years)
Tulare County Housing Authority (has time limits, 5 years)
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CONNECTICUT
Elm City Communities/Housing Authority of the City of New Haven (has time limits, 6 years)
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DELAWARE
Delaware State Housing Authority (has time limits, 7 years)
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KENTUCKY
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Housing Authority (close-out proposed, 5-7 years)
Louisville Metropolitan Housing Authority (tried/ended time limits, 5 years)
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LOUISIANA
Ruston Housing Authority (limits not yet implemented, 5-7 years)
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MASSACHUSETTS
Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (tried/ended time limits, 3 years)
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MINNESOTA
Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (tried/ended time limits, 5 years)
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NEVADA
Reno Housing Authority (tried/ended time limits, 5 years)
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NEW HAMPSHIRE
Keene Housing Authority (tried/ended time limits, 5 years)
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OHIO
Portage Metropolitan Housing Authority (tried/ended time limits, 3 years)
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PENNSYLVANIA
Philadelphia Housing Authority (tried/ended time limits, 7 years)
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TEXAS
Opportunity Home San Antonio, formerly San Antonio Housing Authority (tried/ended time limits, 5 years)
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WASHINGTON
Tacoma Housing Authority (tried/ended time limits, 5 years)
Vancouver Housing Authority: non-elderly/disabled households (tried/ended time limits, 5 years)
Vancouver Housing Authority: for School Housing and Stability Program only (has time limits, 4 years)
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ADDITIONAL CONTEXT ON THE NYU RESEARCH
Researchers from the Housing Solutions Lab at New York University’s Furman Center analyzed HUD’s data over a 10-year period and found about 70% of households who could be affected by a two-year time limit had already been living on those subsidies for two or more years.
That’s based on 2024 estimates and doesn’t include elderly and disabled people who wouldn’t be subject to time limits. Exempted households make up about half of the roughly 4.9 million households getting rental assistance.
The NYU researchers found time limits would largely punish families who are working but earning far below their area’s median income, which would ultimately shift federal rental assistance away from households with kids;
A broad time limit would cause “substantial disruption and dislocation,” the report said, noting the policy is largely untested and most of the few housing authorities to voluntarily try the idea eventually abandoned the pilots.
Even with self-sufficiency programs, including some Trump wants to cut, several housing authorities said rent was still too high and well-paying jobs scarce, the study said. Others said they didn’t have enough capacity to provide supportive services that would help households get to the point where they could afford to live without assistance.
HUD spokesperson Kasey Lovett pushed back on the NYU study and said plenty of data supports time limits and that long-term assistance disincentivizes people from working.
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ADDITIONAL CONTEXT ON HUD HOUSING AND TIME LIMITS
The average household in HUD-subsidized housing stays about six years, studies show.
HUD funds local public housing projects where nearly 1 million households live and the Section 8 vouchers that about 4 million households use to offset their private rentals.
There’s been little guidance from HUD on how time-limited housing assistance would be implemented — how it would be enforced, when the clock starts and how the exemptions would be defined.
Both Democrats and Republicans have acknowledged the potential for time limits to help curb HUD’s notorious waitlists. Hardliners contend the threat of housing loss will push people to reach self-sufficiency; others see limits, when coupled with support and workforce incentives, as a means to motivate tenants to improve their lives.
It’s up for debate whether lawmakers will buy into Trump’s vision for HUD. This week the U.S. House appropriations sub-committee is taking up HUD’s 2026 budget, which so far makes no mention of time limits.
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CONSIDER THESE REPORTING THREADS
Questions relevant to all public housing authorities:
— We found in our reporting some housing authorities have already cut their budgets because of uncertainty over federal funding. Ask housing authorities how they feel about the potential cuts. Some may already be facing loss of funds and reducing the number of vouchers they give out.
— How long is the waitlist for vouchers? Do officials see occupancy time limits as a way to speed up those waitlists, or do they worry people would end up back on them?
— Have officials begun any initial planning or discussion should budget cuts and time limits go through? What are they considering? What are their concerns?
— Ask if the housing authority can provide you with any local data on the number of people who use rental assistance and might be impacted by the time limits, keeping in mind that people who are elderly or have disabilities are exempt.
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Questions for housing authorities that have experimented with time limits – tailor these questions as needed depending on whether a time limit program has been eliminated or is still active:
— Housing authorities that use time limits most commonly set them for five years. How would the housing authority be impacted by the proposed two-year limits? Do officials think that’s enough time to help people become self-sufficient?
— Find out when the program was in place and for how long. What were the terms of the occupancy time limits? Could renters extend them? Who was exempt (elderly, people with disabilities, caregivers, etc.)?
— How often do households end up rent-burdened or unable to afford a home once their time is up, and what do housing authorities do in those situations? What is the removal or eviction process? Have people ended up homeless? For programs that ended their time limits, was the program ended before any evictions occurred? Are there administrative difficulties?
— What have housing authorities found most beneficial about occupancy time limits? Are there success stories? Can they imagine this kind of policy being broadly implemented across the country? If they eliminated time limits and had to impose them again, how would they manage?
— What kinds of self-sufficiency programs does the housing authority provide (some have included financial counseling and job training)? How effective are they? Do some work better than others? If a time limit program ended, were self-sufficiency programs in use during that time and are they still active?
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Additional questions:
— Some landlords who have relied on the stability of federally subsidized housing on their rental properties told AP they may be pulling back from the voucher program and have seen others already do so. Ask landlords who contract with HUD about their thoughts on time limits and the proposed budget cuts. Are they planning to participate less in the voucher program because of the uncertainty?
— It remains to be seen if lawmakers will go along with this new vision for HUD. What do your legislators think?
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FINDING PEOPLE AT RISK OF LOSING RENT ASSISTANCE
— Ask public housing authority officials, local advocacy groups and national advocacy groups to connect you with individuals using vouchers or in public housing, or to landlords with tenants on vouchers.
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EMBED THIS CHART
This AP digital embed map shows public housing authorities across the United States that have implemented programs imposing time limits on housing assistance. This map is current as of July 15, 2025, and will not update. Source: Housing Solutions Lab at New York University’s Furman Center.
Click for a preview.
To embed, insert this code into your CMS:
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