South Dakota Low Income 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!

Best Way to Locate Low Income Housing in South Dakota

South Dakota offers a range of low income housing options, a number of which are fairly uncommon in western states. Probably the best initial place to look for low income housing in the state is at the website of the South Dakota Housing Development Authority (SDHDA, www.sdhda.org) which provides a basic run down of the programs available in the state. For rental assistance programs, the SDHDA can serve as a gateway to six different options:

(1) project-based Section 8 housing (based on the actual housing unit);

(2) tenant-based Section 8 housing, or the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program (based on the tenant and not the housing unit);

(3) Rural Development properties, a program under the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but administered by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD);

(4) The HOME program, where the housing unit was initially built with government assistance on the understanding that the rent would be fixed at a lower than market price for a fixed period of time. HOME units vary in price and the renter does not receive any subsidy, though the rents are lower than they should be for the property;

(5) Housing Tax Credit properties, which work very much like the HOME program, except the developer did not receive direct assistance in building or refurbishing the property; instead they received a tax credit in exchange for setting the rents below market value;

And (6) general Public Housing, where the rental units are owned and operated by the local public housing authority and the rents are offset with direct subsidies provided by the federal government.

Although the state provides a basic introduction to the programs available and some resources, most of these programs are administered - at least at the beneficiary level - by the local public housing authority (PHA), which generally has jurisdiction over either a county or metropolitan area. While the state plays a direct role in some respects - especially in regard to landlords and property developers - in general the local PHA has ultimate say so over who can benefit from any given low income housing option in its jurisdiction.

As the overseeing agency that governs much of these operations and controls the purse strings, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD, www.hud.gov) provides a comprehensive list of all recognized PHAs in South Dakota. Therefore if the potential applicant already knows which area they intend to move to, the list given by HUD would probably be the most applicable starting point to find low income housing.

Further, a lot of PHAs also have information about non-governmental housing assistance programs in the area that may not be available elsewhere. In major urban centers in particular, there are usually at least some additional charitable resources available that may or may not help new people to the area in need of housing assistance.

Despite the resources provided by HUD and the state, in general it is probably a better idea to go directly to the local PHA when looking for affordable housing in South Dakota. This is because South Dakota only has limited subsidized housing options available, so it may be possible to make better arrangements through some sort of non-governmental program as opposed to those run directly by the federal government. Further, the local PHAs are more likely to have more up to date information about what is available and how long it is likely to take to move in.