Section 8 Housing in Houston, TX

Two agencies run most Section 8 in the metro. Inside the city of Houston, that is the Houston Housing Authority (HHA) at housingforhouston.com, which uses the Rent Cafe portal. Outside city limits but inside Harris County, it is the Harris County Housing Authority (HCHA) at hchatexas.org, phone (713) 578-2100. As of 2026, both major Housing Choice Voucher waitlists are closed to new applicants. HHA's list last opened in 2016, when nearly 68,831 people applied and only 30,000 were picked by lottery. HCHA's list also last opened in 2016, and if you did not register then you generally cannot get on it unless you qualify for a local preference. Do not pay anyone to apply; applications are always free. When a list does open, it can close within days, so watch the PHA websites directly and keep your contact information current.

Your voucher amount is capped by a zip-code-based payment standard that each PHA updates around January 1. HHA sets standards by tier; the 2025 studio standard for the highest tier was $1,288. Harris County and Montgomery County standards effective January 1, 2026 run higher in some suburbs, with a 3-bedroom standard around $2,620 in The Woodlands (zips 77380, 77381, 77382) and about $2,580 near Lake Conroe/Willis (77304). In general, vouchers cover roughly 60% to 70% of rent for very low-income Houston households, and you pay about 30% of your adjusted income. To qualify, a family of four had to earn at or below $50,550 (50% of the $101,100 area median income) as of April 2025. A landlord can charge above the payment standard, but your share cannot push your total housing cost above program limits, so ask the PHA to run the numbers before you sign.

Texas is not a source-of-income-protected state. A 2015 state law (SB 267, Local Government Code Sec. 250.007) bars Texas cities and counties from passing ordinances that force landlords to accept Housing Choice Vouchers. That means a Houston-area landlord can legally say 'no Section 8.' The one narrow win: a 2023 state law bars homeowners associations from banning landlords who rent to voucher tenants, though it has no enforcement mechanism. What is still illegal is discrimination based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, or familial status, plus retaliation for filing a complaint. TDHCA also says owners of TDHCA-monitored properties cannot deny you solely for being on Section 8 or demand you show income more than 2.5 times your rent share. If a landlord's 'no vouchers' policy is really a cover for racial or disability discrimination, that may be an illegal fair housing violation you can report.

Because landlords can legally refuse vouchers, Houston's assisted housing is heavily concentrated in majority-minority, lower-income neighborhoods east and north of downtown, forming a 'backward C' around the urban core. HHA voucher holders have historically been about 88% African-American, and less than 1% of Black voucher recipients live in the affluent, mostly white western 'arrow' of the city. A 2017 HUD investigation found the City of Houston violated the Civil Rights Act by blocking the Fountain View development in west Houston and steering tax-credit housing into poor minority tracts. For a voucher holder, the practical result is that you will find the most willing landlords in East End, near Northside, Third Ward, Sunnyside, and similar areas, while wealthier west-side and many suburban areas have very few participating landlords. Suburban payment standards in The Woodlands and Conroe have risen, which can open a few more options if you can find a willing landlord there.

HHA paused issuing new vouchers in February 2024 during a funding shortfall. By February 2025 it said it had exited the shortfall, but the agency was clear this did not mean new money to pull people off the waitlist, only relief for families who already hold vouchers. Then in spring 2025, HHA forced all 18,276 people on the voucher waitlist to re-register in a new Rent Cafe portal by June 2, 2025, or lose their spot. Legal aid attorneys warned that elderly, disabled, and low-tech applicants risked being dropped. Separately, former HHA CEO David Northern resigned amid a KPRC 2 investigation into misspent federal dollars, and Mayor John Whitmire replaced the HHA board after taking office in January 2024. Bottom line: funding is tight, leadership has turned over, and the agency has warned it can mostly only fill vacancies as current households leave.

If a landlord discriminates against you based on race, disability, familial status, or another protected class, or a TDHCA-monitored property denies you solely for being on Section 8, you have options. File a housing discrimination inquiry with the Texas Workforce Commission Civil Rights Division, which enforces the Texas Fair Housing Act. For free legal help, contact Lone Star Legal Aid, which serves low-income residents across 72 eastern and Gulf Coast Texas counties and has directly advised Houston voucher holders. The City of Houston Housing and Community Development Department runs a free tenant/landlord information hotline in English and Spanish. Other referral lines include the Houston Bar Association Legal Line (713-759-1133), Houston Volunteer Lawyers (713-228-0732), and Gulf Coast Legal Foundation (713-652-0077). Keep copies of every application, denial notice, and message with your PHA and landlord in case you need to prove your case.