Buffalo affordable housing: waitlists and how to apply

Most Buffalo affordable housing comes through waitlists, lines you join now and wait in until your turn comes. Join every list that fits your household: the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority's lists for its apartments and the lists of buildings the state helped pay for. Being on one list doesn't stop you from joining another.

Who runs affordable housing in Buffalo?

Lower-rent housing in Buffalo comes in three kinds, and each keeps its own lists:

A tax-credit building is a private building whose owner gets a federal tax break for keeping rents low for households under an income limit, the most a household can earn and still qualify. Mitchell-Lama buildings are privately owned buildings for middle-income households that the state oversees. In both, the rent is a set amount for each apartment, not a share of your income.

How does Perry Homes I work?

Perry Homes I, run by the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, has 284 apartments where your rent is no more than 30% of your income. You also pay your own electric bill. The government pays the rest of the rent for those apartments, so if you move out, you lose it, and the next tenant gets it instead.

Perry Homes I uses its own application, separate from the public housing one. You can apply online through the housing office's portal, or pick up and drop off a paper application at 305 Perry Street, 245 Elmwood Avenue or any of the housing office's management offices. For questions, call 716-855-6711, extension 100, 101, 102 or 103. Perry Homes I also has tax-credit apartments with set rents, and you apply for those through the state's site.

What are the 2026 income limits for Erie County?

To get Buffalo public housing, your household's yearly income before taxes must be at or under the low income limit, $81,200 for four people in 2026. HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, sets these limits for Erie County each year, and the 2026 limits took effect May 1, 2026:

For a Section 8 voucher, most households must earn at or under the very low limit. Federal rules let a housing office admit some families up to the low limit under its own rules, so ask if your income is in between. The extremely low limit is 60% of the very low limit, or the federal poverty guideline if that is higher. For four people, the poverty guideline of $33,000 is the higher one. Each year, at least 75% of the families a housing office newly gives vouchers to must be at or under the extremely low limit. So if your income is above it, expect a longer wait for a voucher.

Example. A household of two earns $38,000 a year. That is under the very low limit of $40,600, so it can apply for a Section 8 voucher and for public housing. It also fits tax-credit apartments set at the very low limit or at the 60% tax-credit limit. That limit is 60% of the area median income, the middle income in the area.

How do you apply to a Buffalo waitlist?

1. Add up your household's income. Count the yearly pay and benefits of everyone who will live with you, before taxes, and check it against the table.
2. Apply for public housing. Fill in the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority's application and email it to 245elmwood@bmhahousing.com. You can also mail it or drop it off at its Housing Assistance Office, 245 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo, NY 14222, weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. For questions, call 716-855-6711, extension 500 or 501.
3. Apply for Perry Homes I with its separate application.
4. Search the state's buildings. On NYS Housing Search, the state says you make one account and reuse your profile for each application. Read each listing's income range and who the homes are for before you apply.
5. Watch for Section 8 openings. Check our New York waitlists page for the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority's and the City of Buffalo's lists.
6. Answer every letter and keep your address current with each office, so you don't lose your place.

Before your name comes up, gather the documents you'll need.

Do you pay a fee to apply?

Not for public housing or Section 8. A housing office can't charge you to apply for public housing or a voucher. For other rentals, New York law lets a landlord charge only for a background or credit check: no more than $20 or the actual cost, whichever is less. If you bring a check done in the past 30 days, the landlord can't charge you at all.

Never pay anyone to put you on a list. HUD's inspector general warns about fake waitlist posts on social media. The Federal Trade Commission warns that fake rental ads rush you and ask for a wire transfer or gift card. Call the office at the number on its own website before you pay anything.

What should you do next?

Send the public housing application and the Perry Homes I application, then search NYS Housing Search for the state's buildings. To see how the wait works once you're on a list, read what happens on a public housing waitlist. See the Buffalo listings you can apply for now on our Upstate New York page, and use our qualify check to see which listings fit your household's size and income.