Latest Housing Updates from LeadingAge National

(Oct. 6, 2025) Affordable housing members should note the following updates from LeadingAge National:

Reports of HUD About-Face on Permanent Supportive Housing. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is contemplating devastating caps on the share of Continuum of Care (CoC) homeless assistance awards that can be used for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH). PSH has proven an effective tool to prevent and end homelessness, including among older adults, who represent the fastest-growing population of those experiencing homelessness. Congress has strenuously supported the expansion of PSH through annual appropriations to HUD for CoC awards. A CoC is a coalition of local or regional providers who coordinate to apply jointly for their geographic areas to receive HUD’s homeless assistance funding. Going into 2026, about 87% of HUD CoC funding is used for PSH. Media reports, based on reviewed internal documents from HUD, indicate that HUD’s next Notice of Funding Opportunity for calendar year 2026 CoC funding will cap the amount of CoC funds that can be used for PSH to as little as 30% of the $3.3 billion in CoC funds congressionally appropriated for 2026. This dramatic downshift will threaten the housing of about 170,000 people currently in PSH, but whose funding for their PSH would evaporate under HUD’s reported pivot. Most PSH residents escaped homelessness because of PSH. PSH assists households who have at least one member with a disability with deeply affordable housing connected to services. A 2023 report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) found that in 2017, 38.7% of PSH residents were older adults (up from 23.9% in 2007). LeadingAge National is urging Congress to require HUD to continue to fund existing PSH and not impose a cap on PSH funding.

New LeadingAge National Shutdown Resource for HUD-Assisted Multifamily Housing Providers. See LeadingAge National’s new resource here.

HUD to Allow Full-Time Work Requirements and Two-Year Time Limits. A leaked proposal, made public on Sept. 29, 2025 by ProPublica, shows HUD’s plans to allow housing providers to implement work requirements and time limits for residents in certain affordable housing programs. The proposed rule would allow housing providers to establish up to full-time work requirements for HUD-assisted residents and would allow time limits of as little as two years for continued assistance and occupancy. The unpublished proposal exempts older adults and people with disabilities, but would result in evictions for millions of low-income households, according to ProPublica. The proposed rule, posted for review by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget (OMB) in early September without the full text available, would apply to public housing, Project-Based Vouchers (PBV), Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), and Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA), which LeadingAge members primarily participate in. Currently, most public housing agencies (PHAs) and all Multifamily Housing owners and agents do not have authority to establish time limits or work requirements. Under the proposed rule, PHAs and owners could establish either or both work requirements or term limits, or establish neither requirement. The proposal states that approximately 4.4 million families benefited from the public housing, HCV, PBV, and PBRA programs in 2024, and implementing eligibility limits would help families on waitlists. LeadingAge National agrees with the need to house waitlisted families, but is calling on Congress to fund the supply of more housing instead of taking it away from other eligible households, including those who work in aging services. More information is here.

Contact: Jeff Diamond, jdiamond@leadingageny.org