Looking for Housing
The King County Housing Authority provides an array of affordable housing options. Subsidized housing communities are managed and maintained by KCHA, while people who receive Housing Choice vouchers receive subsidies that help them pay rent for apartments and other kinds of homes on the private market. People can also find subsidized units on the private market through the Private Housing program.
If you are already a resident of KCHA housing or a participant in the Housing Choice program, you'll want to go to the Current Residents section. The Housing Authority does not provide emergency shelter, but you can find information online about providers of emergency and transitional housing.
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Ballinger Homes in Shoreline |
Subsidized Housing
KCHA-managed subsidized housing is federally assisted rental housing for households who meet certain income, eligibility and suitability criteria. In these programs, residents generally pay an income-based” rent, calculated at 30 percent of their adjusted monthly income. KCHA owns more than 60 Public Housing/Section 8 communities including family complexes, single-family houses and high-rises for seniors and adults with disabilities totaling about 3,500 units.
Housing Choice Vouchers (Section 8)
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 (earning 80 percent or less of the King County area median income). Generally, HUD pays the difference between the rent charged by a housing owner (called contract rent) and the assisted household's rental contribution (usually about 30 percent of the household's income adjusted for family size).
Links to Other Housing Resources and Services
You can find other useful links on this site with information about additional affordable housing resources, including links to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, nonprofit housing providers and other housing authorities.
Low-income individuals and families can learn about how obtain food assistance by going to the Web site for the Washington Basic Food Program. Applications for food assistance are available in Cambodian, English, Korean, Laotian, Russian, Somali, Spanish, Tagalog, Tigrigna, Ukrainian, and Vietnamese.
Parents living in rent assisted housing or receiving rental assistance through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Housing Choice Voucher Program (Section 8) can also look for the best education for their children by using GreatSchools.com. GreatSchools allows parents to make informed educational choices for their children, empowers parents to become involved in their children’s education, and increases the number of HUD-assisted households with school-age children who have access to schools performing at or above the local average.