DEPARTMENT: Neighborhood and Housing Services Department
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Ver?nica R. Soto, FAICP, Director
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: City Wide
SUBJECT:
An Ordinance establishing a Housing Voucher Incentive Policy in San Antonio.
SUMMARY:
The proposed Ordinance would require housing providers receiving incentives from the City for a rental housing project to accept housing vouchers from otherwise qualified applicants.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
Community stakeholders and service providers have expressed concerns about source of income discrimination, whereby housing providers refuse to accept tenants with housing vouchers solely because the applicant's lawful source of income to pay rent includes a housing voucher. According to the San Antonio Housing Authority (SAHA), 53% of new voucher recipients request an extension to secure housing with their voucher. This is because the rents on the available unit exceed the value of the voucher and/or the housing provider does not participate in the voluntary Federal Housing Program and therefore does not acknowledge housing vouchers as a source of income to pay rent.
This issue has been studied through the Strategic Housing Implementation Plan (SHIP) and ForEveryoneHome initiatives and research found that cities with protections for voucher holders had higher voucher acceptance rates than those without such protections. Per state law, Texas cities can only require properties that receive city incentives to accept housing vouchers. Dallas and Austin currently have such policies.
ISSUE:
City staff is proposing a Housing Voucher Incentive Policy (HVIP) that would require rental developments receiving any City funding or incentives to accept applicants with vouchers that are otherwise qualified. The proposed policy would apply only to rental developments receiving grants, loans, tax abatements, or monies awarded by the City, to incentivize housing development. This includes, but is not limited to, Tax ...
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