Programs
The primary mission of the King County Housing Authority is to serve as a safety net for households with the greatest housing needs – from homeless families and seniors and disabled households living on fixed incomes, to the working poor and moderate-income families. To do this, the Authority supports a variety of programs, including transitional and supportive housing, subsidized housing and workforce housing.
In addition to these housing programs, the Housing Authority provides supportive services for residents, helps homeowners and landlords weatherize and repair their properties, and arranges financing for affordable housing. Below is a short description of each of the Authority's programs.
Supportive Housing
Operated by various nonprofit agencies and social service providers but owned and maintained by KCHA, these programs offer housing and supportive services for homeless individuals and families and for people with special needs. Partner agencies include emergency and transitional housing providers, mental health providers, youth and family service agencies and health organizations, among others. Applicants for these programs need to contact the appropriate human service agencies directly. For more information about current service providers, call KCHA's Administrative Offices at 206-574-1100.
Permanent Housing
Federally Subsidized Permanent Housing Programs
These programs primarily serve the members of our community with the most limited incomes, including seniors and people with disabilities, single-parent households and low-income working households.
Public Housing/Section 8 New Construction
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Ballinger Homes in Shoreline |
The Public Housing and Section 8 New Construction programs provide federally assisted rental housing for households who meet certain income, eligibility and suitability criteria. In these programs, residents choose to pay an "income-based" rent, calculated at 30 percent of their adjusted monthly income. In public housing, they also have the option of paying a flat rent based on the market rate. KCHA owns 52 public housing/Section 8 New Construction communities, including high-rises for seniors and adults with disabilities, family complexes and single-family houses, totaling approximately 3,500 units.
The King County Housing Authority manages properties from on-site offices. For more information, please contact the office that serves the community in which you'd like to live.
Private Housing Program
Affordable apartments on the private market are available to low-income families through the Private Housing Program. These subsidized units
are located in privately-managed apartment complexes in great neighborhoods, with good employment opportunities and some of the best school districts in King County. Tenants of Private Housing units pay about 30 percent of their income toward rent and utilities. A federal subsidy covers the difference between the tenant's payment and the rent charged for the apartment.
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Parkway Apartments in Redmond |
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Arbor Heights in Burien |
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Harrison House in Kent |
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Vantage Glen in unincorporated Renton |
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Housing Choice Vouchers make private housing affordable for many. |
Eastside Preservation
The Preservation Program offers subsidized apartment units owned and managed by KCHA to low-income households at four properties located on the Eastside: Spiritwood Manor, Newport Apartments and Hidden Village in Bellevue, and Parkway Apartments in Redmond. All rents are calculated at 30 percent of a household's adjusted monthly income. To qualify for a subsidized unit under this program, you must meet one of three federal preferences. For more information about this program, please contact the Preservation Office at 206-315-4380.
Other Affordable Housing Programs
These programs provide affordable housing opportunities in the private rental market to a people at a wide spectrum of household income levels.
Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Programs (Workforce Housing and Local Programs)
These programs primarily serve low- to moderate-income households, as well as persons with disabilities and other special-needs populations.
Workforce Housing and Local Program properties are financed and managed differently than our federally subsidized properties. These KCHA-owned or affiliated properties, which are generally financed with tax-exempt bonds and/or low-income housing tax credits, are managed by private property management firms. Rents in these developments are generally below-market rate rents for similar private market apartments and are affordable to a range of household income levels. Some workforce housing properties include a limited number of units subsidized through Section 8 project-based assistance.
KCHA also oversees other smaller program developments that charge below-market rents. These properties include Harrison House, a 94-unit high-rise building in Kent reserved for low-income seniors, where supportive services are also provided, and 29 scattered condominiums in Federal Way, Shoreline and Kirkland reserved for elderly households.
For more information about Low- and Moderate-Income Housing Programs, please call 206-574-1100.
Manufactured Housing Homeownership Program
The King County Housing Authority has three different properties where manufactured homes or home sites are available to qualified families and seniors.
The Homeownership Program offers qualified low-income individuals, families and seniors the opportunity to purchase and own a manufactured home located on a land-leased lot within one of three manufactured housing communities owned and managed by the Housing Authority.
Vantage Glen in Renton, and Rainier View in Black Diamond are two property sites where income qualified seniors have the opportunity to purchase their own manufactured home.
Tall Cedars, in Auburn, offers spaces for rent for families or seniors who already own a manufactured home
For information on Vantage Glen and Rainier View, contact Benita Farhoud, 206-574-1228. For information on Tall Cedars, call the management office, 253-931-3955.
Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8)
Tenant-Based Vouchers
The Housing Choice Voucher Program pays rental housing subsidies -- provided through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and managed by KCHA -- to private landlords on behalf of low-income households (households earning at or below 80 percent of the King County area median income). The subsidy, which comes in the form of a voucher, allows program participants to find housing in the private rental market. Generally, HUD pays the difference between the rent charged by a housing owner (called contract rent) and the assisted household's rental contribution (usually 30 percent of the household's income adjusted for family size). Because of the demand for the Housing Choice Voucher program, the waiting list is usually closed to new applicants. However, KCHA generally reopens the waiting list for new applications every three years.
Section 8 Special Programs
Nearly 25 percent of Housing Choice vouchers are targeted
to participants with special needs. Eligible participants are referred
to KCHA through partner agencies. These special vouchers serve
families for whom the lack of adequate housing is a primary factor
in the separation, or imminent separation, of children from the family;
disabled households, and families transitioning from TANF to economic
self-sufficiency. These vouchers also serve terminally ill persons,
victims of domestic violence, or persons who are homeless.
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Other Programs
Housing Repair
This program allows low-income homeowners to make health and safety
repairs and other improvements to their homes. Typical repairs may
include roof replacement, septic system repair; repair or replacement
of rotted flooring or stairs; plumbing repairs; rewiring; deteriorated
structure repair; or accessibility modifications, such as construction
of wheelchair ramps. The program offers three different types of
assistance depending on household income: interest-free deferred
payment loans, emergency grants and grants for mobile home repair.
To find out if you qualify, or for more information about Housing Repair programs, please call 206-214-1240.
Weatherization
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Contractors repair a rotted deck. |
This program, which is free to qualified low-income homeowners and
renters, provides energy efficiency and indoor air quality improvements
for single-family, multifamily and mobile homes. Typical weatherization
improvements may include installation of insulation and thermal windows;
furnace repairs; installation of mechanical ventilation; and air
sealing against drafts. Owners or managers of multifamily buildings
are encouraged to inquire about weatherization services. Most weatherization
improvements are grant-funded, requiring no building owner contributions.
To find out if you qualify, or for more information about weatherization services, please call 206-214-1240.
Development Financing
This program provides tax-exempt bond financing to both for-profit and nonprofit developers seeking to acquire or develop multifamily rental housing in King County. A developer can often significantly improve the feasibility of an affordable housing project by procuring this below-market rate financing through KCHA.
For more information about our Development Financing Program, please call 206-574-1100 to be directed to staff who can help you.
Resident Services
The King County Housing Authority recognizes that residents need more than just safe, affordable housing to attain self-sufficiency. KCHA provides services, often in partnerships with local nonprofit agencies, that meet the needs of all residents, from Head Start classes for pre-schoolers to job
counseling for adults to referrals for seniors and people with disabilities.
You can learn about the services available at KCHA communities by viewing our social services database.
Information about specific services available at KCHA communities
Information about services available throughout King County or call 1-866-4-CRISIS
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KCHA 2007-08 AmeriCorps team |
AmeriCorps
KCHA directly provides educational services, including English as a Second Language, civic engagement and environmental education, through an AmeriCorps team. For more information about AmeriCorps,
please contact Pat Porter at 206-574-1354 or patp@kcha.org.
AmeriCorps national Web site
Washington State Service Corps
Washington Commission for National and Community Service
Project-Based Assistance
Project-based assistance provides operating subsidies to partner agencies and developers to create affordable housing for very low-income people. In this program, the subsidy is tied directly to the unit(s) of affordable housing, not to the tenant. KCHA uses the subsidy to create permanent housing for persons with disabilities and transitional housing for homeless families. It also enables the Housing Authority to create replacement units affordable to low-income households to offset the loss of public housing due to redevelopment efforts.