Subsidized Housing Eligibility

KCHA's waiting list for subsidized housing is temporarily closed. During this temporary closure, KCHA is reviewing and refining its policies and procedures related to the waiting list and transitioning to new housing-management software. All of this will position KCHA to improve its service to applicants going forward. The waiting list will reopen once the software conversion and restructuring are successfully completed.

You must have an annual household income at or below 80 percent of the area median income (AMI). You receive waiting list preference with income at or below 30 percent of AMI.

Our housing search tool can give you an estimate of your eligibility for all of KCHA's programs — including subsidized housing — based on your family size, income, and housing preferences.

Waiting List Preferences

KCHA will give you waiting list preference if you are:

• Homeless, or at risk of losing your housing.
• Living in substandard-condition housing.
• At or below 30 percent of AMI (unless you already receive a rental subsidy).
• Paying more than 50 percent of your household income on rent and utilities.

General Requirements

To qualify for subsidized housing, you must be one of the following:

• A family with children under age 18.
• Age 55 or older.
• Disabled.

In addition, your household must:

• Have a head of household age 18 or older.
• Have no more than 10 people.
• Submit all required consent forms.
• Have U.S. citizenship, or documents that show eligible non-citizen status.
• Provide a documented social security number (SSN) for each person. Otherwise, you must provide a signed certificate showing that no SSN has been assigned.

Suitability Requirements

You must also show that your household can follow all lease requirements. KCHA may require of all people age 18 and older:

• Criminal background checks. (This includes live-in aides.) We will not accept comprehensive reusable tenant screening reports.
• Credit checks.
• Rental history checks.
• Lifetime sex offender registration checks. (This includes live-in aides.) No person registered as a sex offender may live in subsidized housing.

KCHA rejects applications when it believes a household member will have a negative effect on others. We may also reject applicants that have not shown they can manage their household or follow lease terms.

Pet & Smoking Policies

The following policies are available in PDF format:

• Pet Policy - Family Communities (PDF)
• Pet Policy - Senior Communities (PDF)
• Non-Smoking Policy (PDF)