Less than half of Mass. housing voucher holders can consistently afford rent

Yahoo

07-05-2025

Less than half of low-income tenants in Massachusetts who hold state-funded housing vouchers can consistently afford their monthly rent, according to a Boston Foundation report released Wednesday.
The report, which studied the efficacy of the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program (MRVP), revealed that 44% of voucher holders were always able to afford rent, while 33% said they could afford it most of the time and 16% said they could only afford it sometimes.
Researchers determined through surveys and interviews with tenants and landlords that while the program is a lifeline for the people it helps, it also has significant shortcomings. Those shortfalls make it difficult for people to access rental assistance and/or build long-term financial security.
'While safe, stable housing is a vast improvement on the alternative, [tenants] aspire to geographic and economic mobility,' the researchers wrote in the report. 'Voucher holders want to have a choice of decent places to live, to be able to save and someday to be able to afford homeownership.'
What is the Massachusetts Rental Voucher Program?
The state rental assistance program is the oldest housing voucher program in the U.S. and serves more than 10,000 low-income households, according to the report.
The state budgeted $219 million for the program in the current fiscal year. Gov. Maura Healey calls for raising that to $253 million in her proposed fiscal 2026 budget.
To be eligible for the program, a household must make 80% or less of the area median income for their city or town.
Voucher holders pay 30% of their monthly income toward rent, and the voucher covers the rest.
Tenants who use state-funded vouchers told the researchers the program has allowed them to improve their lives. Seventy-eight percent of tenants said it was easier to find and keep a job because of the housing stability a voucher provides, and 86% of parents said their children were doing better in school.
'My kids aren't living in a shelter apartment. My kids are with me. I'm not in fear that my children are going to be taken by DCF [Department of Children & Family] because I can't provide a stable living,' one tenant told the researchers.
Voucher recipients are generally able to access higher-quality housing. Tenants in focus groups said their homes are better, and appliances and utilities work better than in previous apartments. Sixty-four percent of survey respondents said their current home is in excellent or good condition.
Landlords who rented to MRVP tenants broadly said the program also benefits them. A large majority — 81% — cited the guarantee of consistent rent payments as one of the most helpful aspects, while 38% mentioned reduced turnover rates and 20% mentioned access to a wider pool of tenants.
Seventy percent said they were very or somewhat satisfied with the program, and 47% said they were 'very likely' to seek out voucher-holding tenants in the future, in addition to 22% who said they were 'somewhat likely' to do so.
What challenges exist for tenants with rental vouchers?
The state program currently has a waitlist of 168,000 people hoping to receive a voucher, according to the report. Of voucher holders surveyed, 45% said it took more than a year to receive a voucher after they applied.
However, even those with vouchers said they faced challenges affording basic necessities and saving money.
This was particularly true for households at both ends of the eligible income spectrum. For the lowest-income tenants, even with some of their rent covered, their remaining funds may not stretch far enough to cover bills. Participants with the highest eligible incomes experience 'cliff effects,' or the drop-off of assistance programs if their income exceeds the eligible level.
Another issue discussed by tenants and landlords is that of communication and transparency on the part of the state.
'Tenants and landlords both emphasized how much smoother their experiences were when dealing with a representative who they felt was competent and communicative,' the researchers wrote.
'They also described frustrating situations with uncommunicative representatives, long hold times on the phone, missing information or feeling lost when contact dropped off after move-in.'
What improvements can be made to the program?
The report outlines several recommendations for improving the state rental voucher program, including creating more vouchers and providing more opportunities for tenants to build wealth.
The researchers suggested providing 'bridge' financial assistance to households that lose their eligibility due to an increase in income, to offset cliff effects, and giving waitlist priority to previous voucher holders if their income drops back down below the threshold.
They suggested expanding the existing Self-Sufficiency Program within MRVP, which helps tenants develop career skills and access employment, and if their income increases, the extra funds are placed in an escrow account until they complete the program. Only some of the organizations that administer vouchers offer this program.
The report also emphasizes the need for better education for tenants and landlords about the requirements and process of the voucher program and communication with the agency.
The researchers acknowledged that most of these improvements would require more funding for the program, but did not say how much more funding would be needed.
To help provide more resources and stability to the program, they recommended that MRVP be codified into state law. Currently, money for the program is renewed annually in the state budget passed by the Legislature, which leaves tenants without a guarantee that the funds will be allocated each year.
'Codifying the program is a simple step that would give everyone who relies on it confidence that it will remain in place and continue to serve a critical function in the housing ecosystem,' they wrote.
You can read the full report on The Boston Foundation's website.
More on housing
Read the original article on MassLive.