Help tied to a building (PBV and PBRA) or a voucher that moves with you

The short answer

With a regular voucher, the agency gives you the voucher and you search for a private rental it can approve. The help moves with you. With help tied to a building, the assistance belongs to certain units and goes through that property’s selection process. If you leave, the help usually stays with the unit. HUD’s tenant guidance and its PBV overview explain both.

Help tied to a building comes in two main kinds, and they aren’t the same program. A Project-Based Voucher (PBV) is run through a local housing agency. Project-Based Rental Assistance (PBRA) is a different kind of rental assistance tied to the property. Get the full program name before you apply anywhere.

Who runs each program

• Tenant-based voucher: the local housing agency runs the list, issues the voucher and approves the rental you pick. See our voucher guide.
• PBV: part of a housing agency’s voucher program, tied to named units. Your agency should tell you if PBV units exist in your area, or if a PBV property keeps its own list. HUD’s PBV page covers this.
• PBRA: a contract between HUD and the property owner. The owner or management company usually keeps the waiting list, so you apply at the property, not at the agency.

HUD’s Multifamily property search lists properties with HUD Project-Based Section 8, Section 202 and Section 811 help. It leaves out public housing and PBV properties. For those, start with the local agency or our public housing guide.

Some Texas agencies have moved older public housing into HUD’s RAD program, which turns it into PBV or PBRA. In Austin, for example, the Austin Housing Authority (formerly HACA) runs vouchers and Pathways PBRA properties. Our Austin guide has the local routes.

Where you apply, and why one form isn’t enough

One building can mix assisted, tax credit and market rate units. Telling the leasing office you’re interested doesn’t put you on the list for assisted units. Ask if the application goes to management, an agency list or some other referral route. Keep the confirmation that names the program.

You can look into more than one route. Keep applications separate and follow each provider’s instructions, since the same login doesn’t mean it’s the same list. If you get more than one offer, or you already get assistance, tell each program and ask what to do next. Never assume you can get help from two programs at once.

How your rent is figured

In all three programs, your share of the rent comes from your household income, not the advertised rent. With a regular voucher, HUD says you usually pay 30% of adjusted monthly income. If you pick a unit that rents for more than the agency’s payment standard, your share at move-in can go as high as 40%. In properties converted under HUD’s RAD program, residents of PBV and PBRA units usually pay 30% of household adjusted income toward rent.

Utilities change the math, so ask which ones you pay and whether the program gives a utility allowance. An assisted rent isn’t an offer until the provider confirms the unit and approves you.

What happens if you move out

Don’t assume the assistance moves with you, and don’t assume there’s no way to move with help later. The program and its contract make the difference.

• PBV: under 24 CFR 983.261, you may end the assisted lease after one year of PBV help. The agency must then offer continued tenant-based help, or priority for the next opening. Contact the agency before you give the owner notice. If you leave before the year is up, you lose that right.
• RAD properties: HUD’s RAD fact sheet says PBV residents can ask for a tenant-based voucher after one year, and PBRA residents after two years.
• Other PBRA buildings: the help usually stays with the unit. Moving often means applying to another property and starting over.

Before you give notice, ask the provider running the program to explain its move or choice mobility rules, timing and availability. Get the answer in writing.

Compare the two routes side by side

• Location: can you pick any rental the agency approves, or is the help tied to one named property?
• Timing: do you already have a voucher with a search deadline, or are you still waiting to be selected?
• Application: which agency or manager gets the paperwork?
• Unit fit: does the unit you’re offered work for your household and access needs?
• Moving later: what program rules and approvals would apply?

If you already hold a voucher and the clock is running, read what to do when your voucher is about to expire.

Questions to settle before you say yes

1. What is the full program name for this exact unit: PBV, PBRA, tax credit or something else?
2. Who picked me, and who approves me: the agency, the owner or both?
3. What is the written rent calculation, and which utilities would I pay?
4. What deposits, unit features and lease terms come with this offer?
5. What happens if I turn down this offer?
6. If I move later, can I keep any help, and after how long?

Compare written rent calculations and full costs, not just the advertised base rent. Only the program running that offer can give you a final answer.

Where to go next

Use our housing search checklist to track each application. If a unit has a tax credit limit too, check it with our income comparison tool. For local agency routes, start with the property finder or a city guide: Austin, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas or Fort Worth.