HUD Proposes Section 8 Work Requirements
The US Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) has issued a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) that would allow work requirements and term limits in public housing and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Project-Based Voucher (PBV), or Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) programs. The proposed rule would amend HUD regulations to provide Public Housing Agencies (PHAs) with the option to implement work requirements for work-eligible adults and term limits for “non-elderly, non-disabled families.”
The rule would allow PHAs to adopt work requirements of up to 40 hours per week. These work requirements could only be imposed on individuals who are “work-eligible,” a new designation that would be created by this regulation. The definition excludes persons with a disability as defined in 24 CFR 5.403 or a primary caretaker of such individual.” However, the definition of disability the NPRM references is narrower than that of other programs; it requires the “inability to engage in any substantial gainful activity by reason of any medically determinable physical or mental impairment.”
HUD also proposes to allow PHAs to establish a term limit of no less than two years for non-elderly, non-disabled families receiving HCV, PBRA, or PBV assistance or residing in public housing. The definition HUD uses here for person with disabilities includes individuals with developmental disabilities.
FMI: To read the NPRM or submit a comment, go to https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/03/02/2026-04095/establishing-flexibility-for-implementation-of-work-requirements-and-term-limits. Comments must be submitted by May 1st