HUD-VASH: housing vouchers for veterans and how to apply

HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) run HUD-VASH (HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing). It gives homeless veterans a voucher, which pays part of the rent, and a VA case manager. To get it, call the VA's homeless veterans line at 877-424-3838. The housing authority (the local housing office) keeps no waitlist, a line of applicants, for these vouchers.

What is HUD-VASH?

HUD-VASH gives you a Section 8 voucher, which pays part of your rent on a home you choose from a private landlord who accepts it. It also gives you a VA case manager, who helps you find a home and keep it for as long as you need. The case manager connects you with health care, mental health care, treatment for substance use and help with a lease or a budget.

HUD-VASH runs in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Who qualifies for HUD-VASH?

The VA decides who it refers. To be referred, you must meet the rules in HUD's guidebook:

• Be homeless under the federal definition. That covers sleeping in a car, a park or another place not meant for living, or staying in a shelter. It also covers being about to lose your housing with nowhere else to go.
• Need a case manager to get and keep housing. VA staff decide this.
• Work with your case manager. Taking part in case management is a rule of the program.

The VA says the program is built for veterans who need ongoing, intensive support, for example because of a long-term health condition. Veterans who have been homeless for a long time get the highest priority.

What income limit applies to HUD-VASH?

HUD-VASH uses the highest of HUD's three income limits, the low-income limit for your area and household size. An income limit is the most your household can earn in a year and still qualify. Since a 2024 change, every housing office must use this limit for HUD-VASH. Housing offices also don't count service-connected disability benefits, the payments VA makes for disabilities caused by military service, when they check whether you qualify.

Example from the VA. In 2024, a single veteran with a 100% disability rating received $44,854.20 a year. That was above the very low limit some housing offices used, such as $34,050 in Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Under the 2024 change, the office must use the higher low limit, and the disability payments aren't counted at all when it checks whether the veteran qualifies.

What can the housing office check?

Once the VA refers you, the housing office's check is short. HUD's guidebook says the office may check only:

• your household's income;
• your citizenship or immigration status;
• whether anyone in your household must register as a sex offender for life.

It can't turn you down for having no income. It also can't turn you down for money you owe from an earlier voucher or public housing apartment, the apartments a housing office owns and rents out. It must accept your DD-214, your military discharge paper, as proof of your Social Security number and birth date, and a VA ID card as photo ID.

How do you apply for HUD-VASH?

You don't send an application to the housing office. The steps run through the VA:

1. Call 877-424-3838, or chat online with the VA, any time. You can also visit a VA medical center and ask for the homeless program.
2. Answer a few questions. A trained VA staff member asks what you need and connects you with VA staff near you.
3. Get screened. VA staff check the rules above and decide whether HUD-VASH fits you.
4. Get referred. The VA sends your referral to its partner housing office.
5. Meet the housing office. It checks your income, citizenship and registration status, gives you a voucher and explains the rules at a briefing.
6. Find a home. A HUD-VASH voucher gives you at least 120 days to find one; a regular voucher gives at least 60.
7. Keep your case manager. The VA case manager keeps working with you after you move in.

If you are in crisis, call 988 and press 1 for the Veterans Crisis Line.

How is HUD-VASH different from a regular voucher?

With either voucher, you usually pay about 30% of your monthly income after deductions toward rent and utilities, and the housing office pays the landlord the rest. That holds as long as the rent plus utilities is at or under the office's voucher limit, officially the payment standard. The voucher limit is the highest rent plus utilities a home can have while you pay only about 30%. If the home costs more, you pay your 30% plus everything above the voucher limit.

You can also join regular Section 8 and public housing lists at the same time. Find the Section 8 waitlists that are open and apply while you wait for a referral.

Do veterans get priority in housing lotteries?

Sometimes, and that is separate from HUD-VASH. A veteran preference moves a veteran up a lottery, a random drawing for apartments, and you don't need to be homeless or referred.

In New York City, in lotteries published since November 15, 2025, 10% of apartments go first to city employees and veterans. The city counts anyone who served in the Armed Forces, National Guard or Reserves, with any discharge or length of service. You show a DD-214 or a Statement of Service.

In San Francisco, veterans rank first within three other preferences: the Certificate of Preference, the Displaced Tenant Housing Preference and the Live or Work in San Francisco preference. You must qualify for one of those three too.

Each place defines "veteran" its own way, so read each listing's rules and claim every preference that fits. See how lottery preferences change your place in line.

What should you do next?

Call 877-424-3838 today if you are homeless or about to be. If you need short-term help with rent or moving, ask about Supportive Services for Veteran Families, which pays local nonprofits to help veterans keep or find a home.

Search the New York City listings and San Francisco listings you can apply for now, and check the Section 8 and public housing lists taking names today. Use our qualify check to see which listings fit your household's size and income.