Utah Community Action Partnership - Helping People. Changing Lives.

HOUSING ASSISTANCE

One of the biggest problems facing Utah is the availability of affordable housing. Utah and the federal government have several programs designed to provide financial incentives for developers to build low-income housing:

The Olene Walker Housing Loan Fund is administered by the Utah Division of Housing and Community Development to provide critical funding for the development of low-income housing. As it is a revolving fund, loan payments are returned to the fund allowing it to be used again for future projects.
The Utah Housing Corporation allocates the federal Housing Credit to provide a tax credit incentive to investors for the development or rehabilitation of low-income housing.

HOUSING FUNDS FOR INDIVIDUALS

Funding is also available to provide assistance to individuals in need of grants. The Critical Needs Housing Program provides grants and loans to non-profit organizations and local governments to promote and sustain quality affordable housing. Critical Needs is state-funded and administered by the Utah Department of Community & Culture. Critical Needs provides funding to help communities assist people to become more self-sufficient socially, physically, and economically by reducing poverty and improving the quality of life for low income Utahns.

FEDERAL RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has numerous low-income housing subsidies. Public housing consists of housing units provided by local housing authorities that allow low-income, elderly and disabled residents to pay only one-third of their income toward housing.

Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance provides rental assistance vouchers that give low-income families and seniors more housing options by enabling them to live in market-rate units, allowing families to spend one-third of their income on housing with the voucher making up the difference.
Project-based Section 8 is like tenant-based, but instead of the voucher following the tenants from rental to rental, the vouchers stay with the rental units themselves.
Section 202 and Section 811 help provide for the development and rental assistance of supportive housing for seniors and people with disabilities.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture runs several programs, including Section 521 Rental Assistance that is the rural equivalent of the Section 8 tenant-based rental assistance program. See the USDA's Utah housing page for more program information on programs and assistance.

HOMELESSNESS

Once people slip though the housing safety net they need more direct assistance. Local homeless shelters across the state are a great help. In additional to generous donations, one of the primary funding sources for homeless shelters is the Pamela Atkinson Homeless Trust Fund administered by the Utah Department of Community and Culture. It is funded by the State of Utah and by individual contributions that can be made on the Utah Income Tax Form. The program is focused on moving people from homelessness to self-sufficiency, funding emergency shelter operations, meals, transitional housing, case management services, homeless outreach and day centers throughout the state. To see Utah’s Comprehensive Report on Homelessness click here.

HOW DO I GET ASSISTANCE?

All of Utah's Community Action Agencies provide some type of housing assistance, including rental assistance, homelessness prevention, housing rehabilitation, housing and mortgage counseling, housing crisis assistance, transitional housing (from homelessness), and emergency shelter (for general populations and targeted populations, like people with HIV/AIDS). Additionally, they have developed income-targeted housing.

Most of Utah's housing assistance is available through Utah's Community Action Agencies and local housing authorities.

The Utah Division of Housing and Community Development provides a list of affordable and available housing across the state.