The Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act required housing authorities nationwide to create a PHA Plan that includes: 1) a statement of housing needs in the community; 2) a statement of the financial resources available to the Housing Authority to meet the needs; and 3) the Housing Authority’s admissions policies. The PHA Plan for FY 2004-05 was created according to HUD regulations along with the public comment period and public comments were incorporated into the final PHA Plan.
This year’s PHA Plan includes the opening of the waiting list for Half Moon Bay Village, El Camino Village, Midway Village and the Section 8 Project Based units. The latter are owned and operated by developers such as HIP and Mid Peninsula Housing Coalition. The regular Section 8 waiting list will remain closed since there are still almost 7,000 households still on the list.
The creation of these new lists offers current applicants the opportunity to obtain rental assistance earlier. It also allows families who missed the opening of the Section 8 Voucher waiting list the chance for assistance. The opening of this waiting list will also allow the creation of a waiting list for Half Moon Bay Village since that current waiting list is virtually exhausted.
The creation of the Homeownership Program received praise from the members of the Advisory Board was well as potential community partners such as PARCA and Habitat for Humanity. Although the program will take several years to be fully operational, it will eventually offer the potential of homeownership to qualified Section 8 Voucher holders.
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