Low-income apartments in Richmond, Virginia: find and apply

Low-income apartments in Richmond, Virginia come from two places. The Richmond Redevelopment and Housing Authority (RRHA), the city's housing authority (the local housing office), runs public housing, apartments it owns, and gives out Section 8 vouchers, which pay part of your rent at a private landlord. Private buildings with lower rents for households under an income limit take applications at their own offices.

How do RRHA's waitlists work?

RRHA keeps a separate waitlist, a line you join now for an apartment that isn't free yet, for each of its apartment communities, its name for its apartment complexes. RRHA opens its lists for only a few days at a time, and it opens different lists at different times.

RRHA announces openings on its news page and its events calendar, and some appear on only one of them, so check both every week. You apply in RRHA's online applicant portal, which you reach from its public housing page. To see which Virginia lists are taking names today, check our Virginia waitlists page.

A project-based voucher lowers the rent on one apartment in a particular building. If you move out in your first year, you lose the lower rent. After a year, you can ask RRHA for a voucher you can take to an apartment you choose. Ask before you give your landlord notice.

How much is the rent?

In public housing, your rent is usually 30% of your monthly adjusted income. That is your income after the deductions that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the federal housing department, allows, such as an amount for each child. For example, if your household's income after deductions is $24,000 a year, or $2,000 a month, your rent is about $600 a month.

RRHA's lowest rent is $50 a month. If you can't pay even that, ask your property manager about a hardship exemption, which can lower it. If your income drops after you move in, tell your property manager right away, and RRHA lowers your rent so it is no more than 30% of your income. RRHA asks for a $200 security deposit when you sign the lease.

A voucher works differently. You find an apartment in the city of Richmond whose landlord accepts vouchers. You pay about 30% of your adjusted income toward rent and utilities, and RRHA pays your landlord the rest of the rent.

RRHA sets a voucher limit for each home size, officially the payment standard: the highest rent plus utilities a home can have while you pay only that 30%. If the rent plus utilities is higher, you pay your 30% plus everything above the voucher limit. When you first rent a home with the voucher, your share can't be more than 40% of your monthly adjusted income.

What are the 2026 income limits in Richmond?

An income limit is the most your household can earn in a year and still rent a particular home. HUD publishes limits for the Richmond area. The area covers the city of Richmond and nearby places such as Chesterfield, Henrico and Hanover counties and Petersburg. The 2026 limits took effect May 1, 2026.

HUD's 2026 area median income for Richmond, the middle income in the area, is $113,500: half of families earn more, and half earn less. For a family of four, the very low and low limits are 50% and 80% of it. The extremely low limit is 60% of the very low limit, or the federal poverty guideline if that is higher, but never above the very low limit.

To get a voucher from RRHA, your household's income must be at or under the very low limit. For public housing, it must be at or under the low limit. Federal rules say at least 75% of the households RRHA newly picks for vouchers each year must be at or under the extremely low limit; for public housing, it is 40%. So a higher income can mean a longer wait. Ask RRHA which year's limits it uses when you apply.

Can a Virginia landlord refuse a Section 8 voucher?

Most Virginia landlords can't. Virginia's fair housing law makes it illegal to refuse to rent to you because of your "source of funds." The law defines that term to include any government rent program, such as a voucher.

The law has exceptions:

• A landlord who owns four or fewer rental homes in Virginia may turn down a voucher.
• Any landlord may say no if the housing office hasn't approved the apartment within 15 days after you hand in the request for tenancy approval. That is the form you and the landlord send the housing office to start the lease.
• Some owners who rent out a single house without a real estate agent, or who live in a small building they rent out, are exempt too.

If a larger landlord turns you down because of your voucher, you can file a complaint with Virginia's Fair Housing Office at 804-367-8530. File it in writing within one year.

Where else can you look in Richmond?

• Virginia Housing Search. A free statewide rental search, with a help line at 1-877-428-8844, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.
• Income-restricted buildings. Many take applications at the property. Call each building's office and ask whether its waitlist is open and which income chart it uses.
• Central Intake. If you need housing help right away, RRHA's voucher page says to call 804-648-4177 and ask for Central Intake.

How do you apply?

1. Register in RRHA's applicant portal now, from its public housing page, so you're ready the day a list opens. Watch RRHA's news page for walk-in days that help with the portal.
2. Watch for openings on RRHA's news page and events calendar, and on our Virginia waitlists page.
3. Apply to every list that fits your household, because each community keeps its own list.
4. Have your details ready: an email address, a phone number, references and proof of income for everyone in your household.
5. Keep your contact details current in the portal. RRHA sends offers by email, so check your inbox and spam folder.
6. If RRHA turns you down, ask for an informal review in writing within 15 days of the decision.

How do you spot a scam?

• Never pay anyone to put you on a waitlist. HUD's inspector general warns about fake waitlist announcements on social media.
• Confirm that a list is open on RRHA's own website, or call its office at (804) 780-4200.
• The Federal Trade Commission warns that fake rental ads ask for wire transfers or gift cards and rush you. Search the owner's name with words like "scam" or "complaint," and see the apartment before you pay anything.

What should you do next?

See open listings in Richmond and the rest of the state on our Virginia page, and use our qualify check to see which ones fit your household's income. Our guide to the public housing waitlist explains what happens while you wait.