Editor’s note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named Erika Kubly. an employee of the city’s Neighborhood Development Services Department. The article has been corrected to identify Housing Authority representative Rachel Carter as the correct source.
A housing assistance program in the Iowa City area temporarily stopped accepting new applications this summer after a waiting list stretched more than four years.
The Housing Choice Voucher Program, commonly known as Section 8, is distributed by the Iowa City Housing Authority. Named after the city, the agency reaches beyond city limits and helps residents throughout Johnson County and parts of Iowa and Washington counties.
The housing authority currently has 1,595 vouchers, all of which have already been distributed. More than 10,000 residents have applied for assistance.
What do the vouchers do?
The vouchers are essentially a guarantee to landlords that the city will pay a resident’s rent each month using federal funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The department covers 100% of the rent and staff costs, while the Iowa City Housing Authority helps distribute the vouchers throughout the region.
HUD distributes the vouchers based on the area’s “fair market rent” figures, allowing the housing authority to set a “payment standard” between 90% and 110% of the fair market rent.
In Johnson County, HUD determined that the market rent for a three-bedroom apartment in fiscal year 2025 would be $1,548, an increase of 1.5%, or $23, over the previous year.
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Who receives vouchers?
Rachel Carter, Iowa City’s housing program administrator, told the Press-Citizen that the city has earmarked 285 of the 1,595 vouchers for people with special needs.
These include 95 VASH vouchers distributed to homeless veterans through the VA Medical Center and 78 general vouchers for “homeless households with a disability” distributed through Shelter House, an Iowa City-area nonprofit organization.
The Housing Authority also distributes emergency housing vouchers and project-based vouchers to eligible residents.
In total, she said, rental assistance in Johnson, Iowa and Washington counties amounts to more than $10 million.
In most cases, the city works with private landlords to house residents. Landlords in Iowa City were previously required to accept Housing Choice vouchers due to a city ordinance. Iowa law was changed in 2021 to prohibit cities from requiring landlords to do so.
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Why was the application process paused?
The application freeze came after more than 10,000 people applied for the vouchers and were placed on the city’s waiting list.
About 1,900 of those applicants live in the city’s designated “top preference category,” which favors people who already “live or work” in the area. Carter said that means someone who lives in Cedar Rapids but works in Coralville would be placed in the preferred category.
The estimated waiting time of four and a half years applies only to those in the priority category. All those who were on the list at the application deadline will retain their place in the queue.
The high demand was due to the continued need for housing in the area and was exacerbated by the financial difficulties caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The city’s HUD representative suggested pausing new applications to follow federal Housing Department best practices.
“We’ve gotten a lot of feedback from other agencies that this isn’t fair, is it?” Carter said. “People expect to be able to come here and apply (for housing). Waiting four and a half years for assistance is a long time. It gives false hope.”
This preferred category exists because many families and people from across the country have applied to receive local HUD vouchers.
“About 8,000 of the people on our list are people from across the country who applied because they are interested in coming to Iowa City or because it is an option for them,” Carter said. They are not part of the group of people who already live or work in the metropolitan area.
“Affordable housing is hard to come by anywhere and I think people are doing their best to find it.”
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What happens next?
Almost 60% of people on the waiting list have an elderly or disabled “head of household.” Likewise, 57% of households have children.
The city has received several grants in recent months, which the housing authority plans to use for “tenant-related rental subsidies” in the fall.
From 2023: Iowa City is working to help low-income families become homeowners. Here’s how.
The Housing Authority will prioritize and assist prospective tenants on the Section 8 waiting list until a spot becomes available in the more permanent Housing Choice Voucher Program.
As for the Section 8 program itself, Carter said the city will work to get more federal funding from HUD. She said the city has expanded its funding since 2013, which has created hundreds of new Housing Choice vouchers.
Carter said she hopes the city can continue to expand its affordable housing stock by establishing partnerships with residents and organizations in Johnson County.
“I think we need to address the problem on many different levels, and we will continue to do that,” Carter said. “We will continue to look for solutions and work to make those solutions a reality.”
Ryan Hansen covers local politics and crime for the Press-Citizen. He can be reached at [email protected] or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @ryanhansen01.
