Converting Enhanced Vouchers to Project-Based

The Cambridge Housing Authority, using its "Moving To Work" authority, has crafted a new tool for the preservation of projects with maturing mortgages. To facilitate the preservation of the 116 unit Inman Square Apartments, the CHA converted Enhanced Vouchers to Project-Based Vouchers. The outcome is neither as effective nor as efficient as the proposed federal legislation permitting project-basing of Enhanced Vouchers, but it may be a very useful tool for the 33 existing Moving To Work housing authorities.

Here is a link to a brief paper describing the process: Project-Based EV's (If the link doesn't work directly, the paper can be found in the Research and Reports section of the cedac.org/preservation website)

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Brian Peters on May 2, 2011 at 10:48am

I am opposed to the conversion of tenant-based vouchers into project-based vouchers because tenant-based vouchers offers the most flexibility, the most options, and is the most integrated option for people. That is not to say there will never be a circumstance in which it makes sense to convert them, but it should be one of the last options.

According to your paper, Congress provides Enchanced Vouchers for when an owner leaves the program, for one reason or another. The enchanced vouchers are used to purchase the building and keep it as subsdized housing. It does sound like you did this in a reasonable way; purchase a building that is considered desirable, while leaving open the option for tenants to move out if desired (but the number of vouchers available for this should be reasonable).

My concern would be circumstances where the tenant lives in a subsidized building because of a lack of other options, and would much prefer to live elsewhere with a voucher. But if the Moving To Work Housing Authority takes away any other option for those tenants by "stealing" the tenant-based vouchers from them, that is not a good solution.

Because Moving to Work is relatively new and HUD still does not have good data on the effectiveness of MTW, I would be very interested in a neutral third-party evaluation of this tool as well as surveys of tenants to determine if this was the outcome they would've wanted.