Richmond’s public housing authority stopped issuing new vouchers for very low-income residents to rent housing from private landlords this week.

Although a press release from the Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority announcing the decision links the move to proposed federal budget cuts, CEO Steven Nesmith said in an interview the halt was due to both rising housing costs and a $1 million reduction in federal funding this year. 

RRHA administers housing choice vouchers in the city using funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Officials said the authority was eligible this year for about $42 million in HUD funds for the program, which was previously known as Section 8. However, this May it was notified that it would only receive roughly $41 million because it hadn’t used all the money it was given last year. 

“Under HUD, if you don’t use your allocation, they take it away from you,” said Nesmith. 

Nesmith attributed the money left on the table in 2024 to a shortage of private landlords willing to take the vouchers from tenants, who must meet federal income limits to participate in the program. In fiscal year 2025, a Richmond family of four would have to make $56,750 or less to be eligible for the program. 

“We are putting vouchers on the street,” he said. But “landlords are saying — I’m just being real with you — ‘I’m not accepting those people.’” 

RRHA has tried to incentivize landlords to participate in the program by paying them up to $250 for every executed contract. 

Rising rental costs have also strained the program, said Nesmith, meaning the authority is “only able to serve a smaller amount” of people. 

As a result of this week’s suspension of voucher issuance, 395 families who had previously been scheduled or selected to receive vouchers but had not yet done so are being returned to the waitlist. There are currently 4,042 families on the waitlist. An additional 283 voucher holders who are in the process of searching for housing will not lose their voucher as long as they secure a rental within 120 days of issuance. 

Nesmith said that despite the halt, RRHA has brought 349 more low-income families into the voucher program this year compared to last, and “we anticipate leasing additional families from the 283 that are out there searching.” 

Nationwide, housing authorities including RRHA are watching Congress closely as it considers a budget proposal from President Donald Trump that would cut rental assistance funding by more than 40% and effectively end the voucher program by replacing it with state-run programs. 

“We’ll see what happens on a go-forward basis,” said Nesmith.

Contact Reporter Sarah Vogelsong at svogelsong@richmonder.org