Housing help for veterans: federal programs and how to apply

If you are a veteran who is homeless or about to lose your home, call the National Call Center for Homeless Veterans at 877-424-3838, day or night. Other housing for veterans includes rent vouchers, which pay part of your rent, short-term rent help, transitional housing, VA-backed home loans and grants to change a home for a disability.

Which program fits your situation?

Most housing help for veterans comes from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal housing department.

What rental help is there for veterans?

HUD-VASH. This program gives a homeless veteran a Housing Choice Voucher, often called Section 8, which pays part of the rent on an apartment you find yourself. You usually pay about 30% of your income toward rent and utilities. A VA case manager also works with you for as long as you need. It is meant for veterans who need ongoing support, such as those with long-term health problems. You start with the VA, not the housing office: the VA refers you, and the housing office issues the voucher, with at least 120 days to find a home.

Supportive Services for Veteran Families (SSVF). The VA pays local nonprofits to help low-income veteran families who are homeless or about to be. If you are already homeless, the nonprofit helps you move into a home quickly. If you are about to lose your home, it helps you keep it. The nonprofit can pay rent, utilities, deposits and moving costs, within limits, and gives you a case manager.

Grant and Per Diem. The VA pays community organizations to run transitional housing: a place to stay for a while, with help moving into a permanent home. To get a bed, call the call center at 877-424-3838.

Housing office waitlists. Your local housing office runs the waitlists for Section 8 vouchers and for public housing, the apartments the office owns and rents out. HUD says you don't have to live in an office's area to apply there. If you get a voucher from an office outside your area, it can require you to live in its area for the first 12 months. Because the lists are long, apply to several open Section 8 waitlists.

What can veterans use to buy a home?

The VA home loan. A VA-backed loan from a private lender lets you buy, build, improve or refinance a home, and most are made with no down payment. VA sets no minimum credit score, but many lenders do, so ask more than one lender. You still need the credit and income the lender asks for.

First, request a Certificate of Eligibility, a document from VA that tells a lender your service qualifies you. If you served any time since August 2, 1990, you usually need 24 months in a row on active duty. A shorter call to active duty also counts if you served all of it and it was at least 90 days. If you are serving now, you qualify after 90 days in a row. National Guard and Reserve members have their own rules, and some surviving spouses qualify too.

Most borrowers pay a one-time funding fee. The first time you use the loan with less than 5% down, it is 2.15% of the loan, so $6,450 on a $300,000 loan. You can pay it at closing or add it to the loan. Veterans who receive VA disability compensation don't pay it. A VA loan has no monthly mortgage insurance.

Disability housing grants. These grants pay to buy, build or change a home for certain service-connected disabilities, the ones caused or made worse by military service. Examples include the loss of use of both legs or both hands. For fiscal year 2026, which ended September 30, 2026, VA's limits were $126,526 for a Specially Adapted Housing grant and $25,350 for a Special Home Adaptation grant.

VA raises the limits each October 1 when building costs rise, so check VA's grants page for the newest limits. You apply to VA online or with VA Form 26-4555. State first-time home buyer programs can add down payment help.

Do veterans get priority for rentals?

Sometimes, depending on where you apply. Each housing office chooses its own preferences, rules that move some applicants up its waitlist, and HUD names "veteran" as one a housing office may use. So one office may put veterans first while the next one doesn't. A veteran preference on a waitlist is different from HUD-VASH, which needs a referral from the VA.

Some cities give veterans a share of the apartments in their housing lotteries, the random drawings for lower-rent apartments. In New York City, for example, lotteries published since November 15, 2025 give 10% of apartments first to city employees and veterans.

Each place also decides who counts as a veteran: some ask for an honorable discharge, others accept any discharge. Ask each office: "Do you give veterans a preference, and what proof do you need?" Proof is often your DD-214, the military discharge form.

To find lists and lotteries near you, browse the waitlists page or the listings page, and use the qualify check to see which listings fit your household.

How do you apply?

1. If you are homeless or about to be, call 877-424-3838 or chat online with a VA counselor at any hour. The counselor asks about your situation and connects you with help near you. If you are in crisis, call the Veterans Crisis Line at 988 and press 1.
2. For a rental, pick the housing offices near where you want to live. HUD's contact directory lists them. Ask each one whether it gives veterans a preference and what proof it wants.
3. For a home loan, request your Certificate of Eligibility, then get quotes from more than one lender.
4. For a disability grant, apply to the VA online or by mail.
5. Keep a copy of your DD-214 ready. Many programs, including VA home loans, ask for it.

How do you avoid scams aimed at veterans?

Scammers post fake rental ads with real photos to reach veterans who get housing help. The VA warns about these signs:

• a request for an application fee, holding fee or deposit before you have seen the home or confirmed who owns it;
• pressure to pay right away because the home is "in high demand";
• payment by cash, payment apps, gift cards, wire transfer or cryptocurrency;
• an offer to work with you directly and leave your VA case manager out;
• requests for bank details or benefit information early on.

If it happens to you, stop answering the person and keep every text, email, receipt and screenshot. Tell your VA case manager, and report it to the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A housing office can't charge you a fee to put you on its Section 8 waitlist. If you already paid a scammer, contact your bank or payment app right away and ask for a refund.