HUD Issues Second HCV Get Ready Letter – Plan for Higher Funding

In mid-Feb., HUD sent a letter to PHA executive directors. The letter informed PHAs of their individual inflation factors for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. While HUD had previously revealed that the national average inflation factor for 2023 would be 10.13%, the new letter provides PHAs with their individual inflation factors (which may differ substantially from the national factor). The inflation factor is used by HUD to calculate funding for voucher programs for the upcoming year (i.e., the inflation factor, as a whole number, is multiplied by the renewal funding to calculate the program’s total funding for the year).

In addition to being provided in the letter, the inflation factor has also been added for each individual PHA that has a voucher program in the Two-Year tool. The Two-Year tool is a spreadsheet created by HUD, pre-populated with individualized program data, that PHAs can use to help plan their voucher programs.

This year’s inflation factor is substantially larger than previous years. Housing agencies should plan for a larger yearly increase in funding than they may typically be used to.

The Two-Year Tool can be found here.

The Department has also created a one-pager with links to tools to help increase utilization that can be found here.

Finally, the Department has created a video that provides an overview of the HCV funding process (see below).