Section 1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the “Housing Accessibility and Voucher Expansion Now Act” or the “HAVEN Act”.
Housing Accessibility and Voucher Expansion Now Act
A BILL
To amend certain Acts related to housing to adjust rental payments with respect to certain Federal rental assistance programs, to ban source of income discrimination in housing, to reform and expand the housing choice voucher program, and for other purposes.
Sec. 2 Adjustments to rental payments with respect to certain Federal rental assistance programs
In general—
United States Housing Act of 1937— The United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et. seq.) is amended—
in section 3(a)(1)(A), by striking “30” and inserting “20”;
in section 8(o)(2)(A)(i), by striking “30” and inserting “20”; and
in section 9(e)(2)(A)—
in clause (vi), by striking “and” at the end;
by redesignating clause (vii) as clause (viii) and by moving such clause 1 em to the right; and
by inserting after clause (vi) the following:
“(vii) the amount of public housing rental income forgone by the public housing agency as a result of lowering the percentage of monthly adjusted income for the calculation of rental payments; and”
Housing Act of 1949— Section 521(a)(3) of the Housing Act of 1949 (42 U.S.C. 1490a(a)(3)) is amended by striking “30” in each place it occurs and inserting “20”.
Housing Act of 1959— Section 202(c)(3) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(c)(3)) is amended by striking “30” and inserting “20”.
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act— Section 811(d)(3) of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(d)(3)) is amended by striking “30” and inserting “20”.
Effect on recipients of assistance— To the extent practicable, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall ensure that the adjustments made by subsection (a) do not reduce the number of recipients of the Federal rental assistance programs described in subsection (a).
Sec. 3 Authorization of appropriations with respect to certain Federal rental assistance programs
United States Housing Act of 1937— The United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437 et. seq.) is amended—
in section 9(c)(2)(A), by striking “, and 2003” and inserting “2003, 2026, and each fiscal year thereafter”; and
in section 9(c)(2)(B), by striking “, and 2003” and inserting “2003, 2026, and each fiscal year thereafter”.
Housing Act of 1959— Section 202(m) of the Housing Act of 1959 (12 U.S.C. 1701q(m)) is amended to read as follows:
“(m) Authorization of appropriations—There is authorized to be appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this section.”
Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act— Subsection (m) of section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 8013(m)) is amended by striking the period at the end and inserting “, and such sums as necessary for fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter”.
Sec. 4 Unlawful discrimination based on source of income
The Fair Housing Act (42 U.S.C. 3601 et seq.) is amended—
in section 804, by striking “or national origin” each place it appears and inserting “national origin, or lawful source of income”;
in section 805—
in subsection (a), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or lawful source of income”; and
in subsection (e), by striking “or familial status” and inserting “familial status, or lawful source of income”;
in section 806, by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or lawful source of income”;
in section 807(a), by striking “or national origin” and inserting “national origin, or lawful source of income”; and
in section 808(e)(6), by striking “and family characteristics” and inserting “family characteristics, and lawful sources of income,”.
Sec. 5 Housing navigation grant for housing choice voucher program
Section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
“(23) Housing navigation grant
“(A) In general—Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this paragraph, the Secretary shall establish a grant program to award housing navigation grants to public housing agencies.
“(B) Eligible uses—A public housing agency that is awarded a grant under this paragraph shall use such grant to—
“(i) assist families receiving tenant-based assistance with the search to find a suitable dwelling unit; or
“(ii) engage with owners of dwelling units for the purpose of assisting such families in such search.
“(C) Subgrants—A public housing agency that is awarded a grant under this paragraph may use such grant amounts to provide subgrants to nonprofit organizations to carry out the eligible uses described in subparagraph (B).
“(D) Authorization of appropriations—There is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry out this paragraph $20,000,000 for fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter.”
Sec. 6 Use of small area fair market rents for housing choice voucher program
Section 8(o)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)(1)) is amended—
in subparagraph (B), by striking “subparagraph (D)” and inserting “subparagraphs (D) and (F)”; and
by adding at the end the following:
“(F) Use of small area fair market rents—Effective for fiscal year 2026 and each fiscal year thereafter, the area fair market rents used for purposes of subparagraph (B) shall be established by the Secretary by zip code areas.”
Sec. 7 Technical assistance for applicants for admission to a public housing project
Section 9(h)(1) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437g(h)(1)) is amended by inserting “applicants for admission to a project,” after “organizations,”.
Sec. 8 Expansion of housing choice voucher program
Expanded vouchers—
Funding— There is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, for providing incremental vouchers for rental assistance under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) in accordance with this section for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2029, the amount necessary to fund—
the number of incremental vouchers required to be allocated under paragraph (2);
annual renewals of the vouchers allocated under paragraph (2); and
administrative fees for vouchers allocated under paragraph (2).
Allocation—
Incremental vouchers— The Secretary shall allocate 500,000 incremental vouchers in fiscal year 2026 and 1,500,000 incremental vouchers in increments of 500,000 in each calendar year from 2027 through 2029 under this section to public housing agencies pursuant to section 213(d) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 1439(d)).
Selection criteria— The Secretary shall, by notice in the Federal Register, establish selection criteria under section 213(d) of the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974 (42 U.S.C. 1439(d)) that prioritizes housing needs among eligible households and severe housing hardship, such as experiencing homelessness, overcrowding, or evictions.
Entitlement to vouchers—
In general— On and after the date that is 5 years after the date of enactment of this Act, any family that is otherwise eligible for tenant-based rental assistance under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) shall be entitled to that rental assistance during any period that the family is an eligible household.
Funding— There is appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary—
to provide assistance under section 8(o) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(o)) in accordance with the entitlement under paragraph (1) of this subsection for each eligible household in the amount determined under such section 8(o); and
to provide administrative fees under section 8(q) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 (42 U.S.C. 1437f(q)) in connection with each voucher for assistance provided pursuant to subparagraph (A) of this paragraph.
Eligible household defined— In this section, term eligible household means a family who has an income that does not exceed 80 percent of the area median income, as determined by a public housing agency.
Sec. 9 Section 8 Management Assessment Program
Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Housing and Urban Development shall issue a rule to consider the timeliness of approval for both eligible families and landlords with respect to the Section 8 Management Assessment Program (SEMAP) or any successor assessment program, as described in part 985 of title 24, Code of Federal Regulations.