Yonkers affordable housing: lotteries, waitlists and Section 8

Yonkers affordable housing comes from two main places. Privately run buildings post their lotteries, which are random drawings of applications, on Westchester County's HomeSeeker website. They also post waitlists, which are lines of people waiting for the next free apartment. The city's housing office runs Section 8 vouchers, which pay part of your rent to a private landlord, and its own apartments.

Who runs affordable housing in Yonkers?

The Municipal Housing Authority for the City of Yonkers is the housing authority (the local housing office) for the city. Besides vouchers, it runs public housing, the apartments it owns and rents out, and project-based vouchers, which lower the rent on one apartment in a building while you live there. Private buildings run the rest:

With a project-based voucher, if you move out during your first year, you lose the lower rent and get nothing to take with you. After a year, you can ask the housing office for a regular voucher to use at an apartment you choose; ask before you give notice.

How do Yonkers housing lotteries work on HomeSeeker?

On HomeSeeker, you apply online to each listing, and each listing fills its homes by lottery or by waitlist. HomeSeeker is Westchester County's website for affordable rentals and homes for sale. You create an account, fill in your household's size and income, and apply to the listings you qualify for. Your household can apply once to each listing and to as many listings as you like.

Listings work in two ways. In a lottery listing, every application sent before the end date goes into the drawing, so applying early gives you no better chance. After the drawing, the building checks applications in lottery order, which can take several months. In a waitlist listing, your application goes to the end of the list on the day you apply. The building contacts you only when an apartment comes free and your name is reached, so apply soon.

If your application is picked, the building's management office asks for documents to confirm that your household qualifies, then offers a lease or a purchase agreement.

What are the 2026 income limits in Westchester County?

For four people in Westchester County, the 2026 very low limit is $84,800 a year. An income limit is the most your household can earn in a year, before taxes, and still qualify. HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, sets three limits for the county, which took effect May 1, 2026:

For a Section 8 voucher, most households must earn at or under the very low limit. A housing office can admit some families up to the low limit under its own rules. Buildings on HomeSeeker set each apartment's limit as a share of the area median income, the middle income in the area. Each listing shows its own income range, so go by the listing, not this table.

Example. A household of three earning $70,000 a year is under the very low limit of $76,350, so it can apply for a voucher. It is above the extremely low limit of $45,850. At least 75% of new vouchers go to households at or under that limit, so a household like this is passed over more often. On HomeSeeker, it fits any listing whose income range for three people includes $70,000.

What about Section 8 in Yonkers?

The Yonkers housing office's voucher list opens rarely, and it announces any opening on its website and in Yonkers newspapers. To see whether it is taking names today, check its website or our New York waitlists page. In 2022, the list opened from June 27 to July 13, and about 14,500 families applied for 3,000 spots on the waitlist, which it filled by lottery.

If you get a Yonkers voucher, where you can use it depends on where you lived when you applied. If you lived in Yonkers, the Yonkers housing office says you can rent anywhere in the country. If you lived elsewhere, you must rent in Yonkers for your first 12 months.

For the public housing and project-based lists, you send one online pre-application per household for each list when the office opens them. It mails you a letter if you are added. Your wait depends on your place on the list, the bedroom size you need and how often apartments come free. For help, call the Admissions Department at 914-793-3247.

Are Yonkers apartments rent stabilized?

Some are. Rent stabilization is a state rule that limits how much a landlord can raise your rent when you renew your lease. Yonkers is one of the places that adopted it, and it generally covers buildings built from 1947 to 1974. For leases that start from October 1, 2026 to September 30, 2027, the Westchester limit is 3.5% for a one-year lease and 4.5% for a two-year lease. To find out whether your building is covered, ask the owner or the state's Office of Rent Administration.

How do you avoid fees and scams in Yonkers?

A housing office can't charge you to apply for a Section 8 voucher, public housing or a project-based voucher. Some co-op buildings, where you buy a share that lets you live in one apartment, charge an application fee, and the listing states it. HUD's inspector general warns about social media posts that falsely announce a list and then ask for money. Pay only the office that runs a listing, after you confirm the fee on the listing itself.

What should you do next?

1. Register on HomeSeeker, fill in your profile and apply to every listing that fits your household.
2. Call the buildings that keep their own waitlists and ask to be added.
3. Watch the Yonkers housing office's website for a voucher or public housing opening.
4. Gather your documents so you can answer fast when a building contacts you.

See the Westchester listings you can apply for now and the New York lists taking names today. Use our qualify check to see which listings fit your household, and learn what happens after a lottery drawing so you're ready when a building contacts you.