The Project-Based Voucher (PBV)1 program is a relatively small project-based housing assistance program, funded by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and administered by public housing authorities (PHAs), and was the subject of The Beginner’s Guide to Project-Based Vouchers published in 2015, the predecessor to this publication.

This important subsidy program allows PHAs and owners of private multifamily properties to commit subsidy to particular units in order to preserve the long-term affordability of those units. Currently, it is the only program within HUD that provides for the creation of new subsidized units rather than the preservation of existing subsidy. Since the original publication of the Beginner’s Guide, the PBV program has seen significant changes and expansions through continued use of the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) program and the enactment of the Housing Opportunities Through Modernization Act of 2016 (HOTMA). As of December 31, 2017, HUD reported 122,867 project-based vouchers (or certificates) nationally, including approximately 50,182 units converted under RAD. This represents a 34 percent growth in the program since the publication of the Beginner’s Guide. With the expansion of the program under HOTMA as discussed in Section III.A and expanded conversion of public housing units to PBVs under RAD, it is likely that this pace of expansion will keep pace and that PBVs will continue to be a vital development and affordable housing tool in the years to come.