Federal grant programs / Department of Agriculture

Rural Development Multi-Family Housing Rural Housing Voucher Program (10.448)

Also known as Rural Development Voucher Program

• Awarded, FY 2021 to 2025$181 million
• Grant awards35,267
• Typical award$4,836
• Awarded in FY 2025$44.8 million
• Size rank632 of 1,823
• Type of assistanceDirect payments for specified use

Key findings

• Annual funding rose from $31.6 million in fiscal 2021 to $44.8 million in fiscal 2025.
• It is the 632nd largest of 1,823 federal grant programs by five-year awards.
• Awards went to recipients in 51 states and territories.

What the program funds

The Rural Housing Voucher Demonstration program is designed to provide rental housing assistance vouchers to tenants in properties that pay off their Rural Development mortgage. The amount of this subsidy is the difference between the comparable market rent and the amount of rent being paid by the tenant when pay off occurs. Pay off properties may be located anywhere in the 50 states, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam.

From the federal Assistance Listing. Read the full listing on SAM.gov.

Open opportunities

No opportunity under this program is open or forecast on Grants.gov right now. Programs often post once a year, so the funding history below shows what to expect.

Rules from the program listing

Who can apply

Applicants must (a) be residing in the Section 515 project on the date of the pay off of the Section 515 loan or upon foreclosure by Rural Development; (b) the date of the pay off or foreclosure must be after September 30, 2005; (c) as required by 42 U.S.C. 1436a the tenant must be a citizen, U.S. non-citizen national or qualified alien and will so provide proof of citizenship.

What the money can and cannot pay for

The monthly housing assistance payment for the Rural Development Voucher Program is the difference between the comparable market rent for the family's former Section 515 unit and the tenant's rent contributon on the date of the pay off. The rental unit must pass a Rural Development health and safety inspection. The owner must be willing to accept a Rural Development voucher. Use at HUD Section 8 or other Federally-assisted public housing, is prohibited. The Rural Development voucher may not be used in combination with the Rural Development Rental Assistance program.;

Matching requirements

Statutory Formula: Title Title 7 Agriculture, Part PART 3560—DIRECT MULTI-HOUSEHOLD HOUSING LOANS AND GRANTS, Subpart Q Rural Development Voucher Program,Public Law https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2023-title42/pdf/USCODE-2023-title42-chap8A-subchapIII-sec1490r.pdf.The program currently has a proposed rule in place.Matching requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing. MOE requirements are not applicable to this assistance listing.

Deadlines

Deadlines do not apply Tenants have 10 months from the property’s final loan payment date to decide whether they want to use their Rural Development voucher. The voucher holder’s initial benefit period is one year, subject to renewal based on the tenant’s continued eligibility and funding availability.

Examples of funded projects

Fiscal Year2025: Voucher funding is provided on behalf of voucher holders to protect eligible tenants in Multifamily Direct Loan properties who may face hardship when a final loan payment is made on the property.

Quoted from the program's federal Assistance Listing. The notice of funding opportunity is the official source for each competition's rules.

Who usually wins

Almost all of the money went to individuals.

By state

50 states have a page for this program: those that received at least $1 million or 10 awards.

Award amounts are federal obligations reported to USAspending.gov for fiscal 2021 to 2025; see how our data works.