Section 8 Housing in South Carolina

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!

Where to Learn about Section 8 Housing in South Carolina

Section 8 subsidized housing is a federal program administrated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in all fifty states. It is also the largest subsidized housing program in the United States and the largest one available in South Carolina. Section 8 housing comes in two varieties, project-based and tenant-based. Project-based Section 8 housing is directly tied to the housing unit and new applicants wait until there is a vacancy (or new units are constructed) and can then benefit from the program. Tenant-based Section 8, also known as the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, is based on the tenant, who can then shop around for landlords that will accept the Section 8 vouchers within the local jurisdiction of the issuing public housing authority (PHA).

Unlike many of the more conservative southern states that have decided to continue emphasizing project-based Section 8 housing, in South Carolina the emphasis is on tenant-based HCV housing. The key benefit of HCV - and the reason many of the more progressive states now focus on it - is because it cuts down on the subsidiary costs that stem from creating effective slum areas by forcing low income people into "projects" which frequently end up becoming high-crime areas and urban blights. HCV allows low income people to integrate more thoroughly into the greater community, cutting down on the creation of slum areas and all the additional expenses that stem from them. South Carolina has realized the advantages of HCV and now emphasizes this program throughout the state.

Basic information on section 8 availability in South Carolina - both project-based and tenant-based - can be found by contacting the local PHA of the area in question. Although the program is administrated at the federal level by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD, www.hud.gov), at the beneficiary level it is administrated by HUD-recognized PHAs. In South Carolina, local PHA duties have been taken over by a state agency, the South Carolina State Housing Finance & Development Authority (SHA, www.sha.state.sc.us) in seven different counties: Clarendon, Colleton, Dorchester, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee and Lexington. Otherwise, the local PHA can be found by looking at the HUD website (linked above), which lists all HUD approved PHAs in South Carolina.

It is important to understand that qualifying for Section 8 housing is based on what essentially amounts to a means test, in which the applicant's annual income is compared against the average median income of the region in question. In general, median incomes are designated by metropolitan area or by county and this information is regularly updated and modified by HUD. One can find the median income levels as recognized by HUD through the HUD website. In order to qualify for Section 8 housing, the applicant must make fifty percent or less of the HUD-defined median income of the area in question in order to qualify for Section 8 housing. Further, the local PHAs are obligated by law to provide seventy-five percent of their vouchers to people making thirty percent or less of the area's median income, which makes it more difficult for people in the thirty to fifty percent range to get Section 8 housing in South Carolina or anywhere else.