The Incentives That Might Make Landlords Take Section 8 Tenants
A bipartisan Senate bill aims to overcome the barriers and biases that keep property owners from participating in a key affordable housing program.
Many landlords balk at accepting federal housing vouchers held by low-income renters. A new Senate bill could provide some overdue incentives.
Photographer: Photo by Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Landlords have been walking away from the federal housing assistance program known as Section 8 in droves. Each year between 2010 and 2016, some 10,000 property owners left the Housing Choice Vouchers program, which helps low-income families, the elderly and disabled people rent homes from the private market. This attrition blunts the reach of federal aid, narrowing the number of listings available to people using the vouchers. It also locks families into cycles of poverty and segregation, since landlords in more-affluent neighborhoods especially tend to hold households with assistance at bay.
While “Section 8” has long served as a dog whistle for racist opponents of welfare, recent research suggests that reluctant landlords aren’t entirely motivated by bias. With a few nudges, landlords could even be persuaded to return to the program, meaning better opportunities for families with housing assistance, something that’s crucial for children especially, as research from Harvard economist Raj Chetty’s Opportunity Insights program has shown. This theory is the basis for a bipartisan bill before the Senate that would add new features to the voucher program to try to lure property owners back into the fold — including signing bonuses for landlords.