To reduce housing costs and provide better housing, HUD has gradually been moving from project-based housing assistance to Section 8 certificates and vouchers that tenants may use wherever they choose. HUD recently closed four developments that provided project-based assistance where the Department paid a subsidy to the tenants only as long as they lived in the development. When the developments deteriorated to the point at which it was not feasible to continue to operate them, HUD closed the developments and helped relocate the tenants using tenant-based Section 8 assistance. The relocation process in these developments provided an opportunity to study what happens when low-income residents attempt to move from project-based to tenant-based assistance. This process of converting from project-based subsidies to tenant-based assistance is known as vouchering out.

Case Studies of Vouchered-Out Assisted Properties shows that residents of subsidized projects can be relocated successfully using tenant-based Section 8 assistance. Residents who received Section 8 certificates and vouchers were able to find housing in the private market. Many residents were able to move to neighborhoods with less crime, higher incomes, and greater racial and ethnic diversity than their previous neighborhoods had.

Improved Housing. Most families improved their housing conditions by moving. About four-fifths were somewhat or very satisfied with their new homes, with the most frequent reason being better housing conditions. About two-thirds reported that they were more satisfied with the new housing than with the project-based development. Objective measures also confirmed increased housing quality. Between 30 and 70 percent of the residents were able to move from an apartment to a single-family home. Many were able to obtain more space because the average number of rooms increased, decreasing the ratio of persons to rooms.

Better Neighborhoods. By moving away from their original developments, families were able to improve their quality of life. All four properties suffered from inadequate security and serious crime problems, due in part to poor management. Depending on the original site, between 80 and 90 percent of the residents were more satisfied with their new neighborhood than with their previous one. Large numbers of families cited better neighborhood conditions or a safer neighborhood as a reason for choosing a particular home.

When researchers used mapping software to analyze the new neighborhoods, they found that a majority of families moved to areas where incomes were substantially higher than in their original neighborhoods, thereby decreasing concentrated poverty. A majority of residents in three of the four projects moved to census blocks that were less racially concentrated than their previous neighborhoods.

The researchers conclude that, overall, vouchering out was an effective tool for improving the housing and neighborhoods of residents. It might be most appropriate, they state, when a development's physical and social decline has reached the point that rehabilitation is no longer feasible.

Recently released from HUD's Office of Policy Development and Research, Case Studies of Vouchered-Out Assisted Properties is available from HUD USER for $5. Use the order form.