BRISTOL, Tenn. – The Bristol Tennessee Housing and Redevelopment Authority will put a freeze on new applications for its Housing Choice Voucher-Section 8 program beginning Nov. 16, because it’s already swamped with requests.
The agency has a current waiting list of 245 applicants, said Executive Director Steve Scyphers, who blames the economy.
“Over the past few months, we’ve pretty much been bombarded with applications for housing vouchers,” Scyphers said Thursday. “Unfortunately, it’s a product of the overall economic situation, and it just seems to be getting worse and worse. But we have no choice but to halt taking new applicants.”
The housing authority, which manages public housing and other subsidized living on the Tennessee side of the Twin City, now oversees 200 residential units under the federal Housing Choice Voucher-Section 8 program. The program allows an eligible low-income family or individual to live in a residential home or property for a fixed rental fee each month. It then pays the landlord the difference between the home’s actual monthly rent and the fixed amount paid by the family or individual.
In recent months, Scyphers said, the flood of applicants seeking the vouchers far exceeds his agency’s ability to provide them. The housing authority usually has 10 of its 200 vouchers become available each month – and with the current waiting list already high, it would be 2012 before Section 8 housing would likely open up for new applicants.
“When you factor in 10 open vouchers a month, a present waiting list of 245 and the background checks and other things we have to do before we reissue a voucher, it’s not realistic to take more applications,” Scyphers said.
In addition to issuing Section 8 housing vouchers for private residential homes, the authority manages two high-rise, public-housing apartment buildings – Edgemont Towers and Fort Shelby Tower Apartments – among other properties.
Scyphers said the irony is that while there’s a packed waiting list for the housing vouchers, there are numerous units available for rent in both Edgemont and Fort Shelby.
“We think it would be a great alternative for people to look at living in the apartments, while they’re waiting to be considered for the housing vouchers,” Scyphers said. “But the fact is, some people just don’t want to live in high-rises. So that’s been an obstacle for us.”
In Bristol, Va., that city’s housing agency – the Bristol Redevelopment & Housing Authority – continues to have open slots on its waiting list for housing vouchers, according to its website.
Neither BRHA’s Executive Director David Baldwin nor Rebecca Clarke, its housing choice voucher coordinator, was available for comment Thursday.
rbrown@bristolnews.com | (276) 645-2512
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