A new rental assistance program launching this week will help some low income households afford rent. But its reach is far smaller than advocates hoped, and isn’t keeping up with the need, they say.
It was a long wait for a small program.
New York State’s Housing Access Voucher Program (HAVP) is up and running, after lawmakers and advocates who fought for years to get it included in the state’s budget finally succeeded last year.
The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) started accepting applications for the $50 million statewide program on Sunday. With a housing voucher, households typically spend 30 percent of their income on rent and the government pays the landlord the rest…