Alaska Section 8 Housing

Low Income Housing Information

Low income housing can be a godsend, but if you don't know how to apply, or who to get your information to, how can you ever expect to be approved?

Since laws and procedure vary from state to state, you'll need to learn a few specifics before applying. We can help!

What Does Section 8 Housing Consist of in Alaska?

Section 8 is a popular reference to the federal Housing Choice Voucher Program, which subsidizes housing expenses for qualifying low income people that rent their homes. The term "Section 8" may also apply to the more specialized Veterans Administration Supported Housing (popularly: "HUD-VASH") program which is administered jointly by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Department of Veteran's Affairs for the benefit of military veterans. Most Section 8 arrangements require the beneficiary to spend about thirty percent of their monthly gross income on rent payments, while the Section 8 voucher covers the balance due between the amount paid by the beneficiary and the total amount owed to the landlord.

Beyond HUD and the qualifying low income beneficiary, the Section 8 program also requires the active - and willing - participation of public housing agencies (PHAs). The PHA of any particular apartment complex or rental block has to actively operate a Section 8 voucher program, but they are not required to do so in most cases. This results in most PHAs that operate higher quality properties simply refusing to accept Section 8 tenants, meaning that most of the properties available to Section 8 beneficiaries tend to be older and less desirable. For many PHAs, accepting Section 8 tenants is a last resort measure if they are unable to attract higher income tenants to their properties. Not surprisingly this leads to active discrimination and reinforces the negative stigma that surrounds poverty and government subsidies. The recent effort to offset this has been to require PHAs that receive public assistance or subsidies in developing their properties to set up a Section 8 program and set aside a certain percentage of their units for Section 8 beneficiaries.

Alaska has a number of features that leads to a unique housing market, especially in respect to low income subsidized housing. The fact that Alaska is primarily a rural state, with only a few communities that could in any way be considered urban, means that urban housing is limited. Further, Alaska has a large Native American population, much of which qualifies for subsidized housing, which means that it has a lot of unique subsidies and assistance programs that are used exclusively to the benefit of Native Americans. Finally, Alaska has one of the highest costs of living in the United States (number four in the rankings behind Hawaii, the District of Columbia, and California) so considerably higher subsidies are required for low income people in Alaska.

The first place anyone searching for Section 8 housing in Alaska should go is the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation (AHFC, www.ahfc.state.ak.us, 907-338-6100; its physical office is in Anchorage). This organization, run by the state government, is a comprehensive resource detailing most of the federal and state programs available to low income people in the state. This includes resources for renters including an up to date listing of Alaska-based PHAs that operate Section 8 programs as well as other helpful information for renters. The AHFC also offers a range of booklets and print materials detailing the various programs and live workshops designed to help people understand how to take advantage of the offers available to them.