Low-income tenants for high-income towns

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Section 8 rent allowances to vary by neighborhood. Photo by I’Jaz Ja’ciel

With rents increasing throughout Erie County, a trio of Buffalo-based housing agencies hope to see more low-income rentals in some of the region’s most affluent communities.

These housing agencies, which administer federally funded rental vouchers, say they are looking for more private-sector landlords in East Amherst, Clarence Center, Orchard Park and similar communities to participate in the government’s Section 8 subsidized rent program.

Attempts to increase Section 8 housing in suburban and other higher-income areas have occurred in the past, according to representatives of the housing agencies — the Buffalo Municipal Housing Authority, the Rental Assistance Corp. of Buffalo, and Belmont Housing Resources of WNY.  But this time is different, they say, because the federal government is increasing rental subsidies in some of these communities.

Section 8 rents will increase by as much as $600 to $800 a month in the region’s most-expensive communities, capping at a high of $2,430 for four-bedroom apartments or houses. Meanwhile, maximum rent allowed under Section 8 will drop by $100 or so in some high-poverty areas.

The goal is to provide more and better housing options — and overall opportunities — for lower-income families while also working toward desegregating the Buffalo region, according to the local housing officials. 

There are currently over 10,000 Section 8 households in Erie County, most in the City of Buffalo. Another 17,000 households are on Section 8 wait lists.

Studies have found when low-income families move to low-poverty areas, their health improves and chances of their children attending college rise, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

“Our community is so segregated and so unequal and there are clear reasons why this is; it doesn’t happen by accident” said Daniel Corbitt, associate director at Housing Opportunities Made Equal, a fair housing-based civil rights organization.

Still to be seen, however, is whether the updated subsidies will be sufficient, suburban rental units match the needs of the lower- income families, and the housing agencies have the wherewithal to enforce laws requiring landlords rent to qualifying Section 8 applicants. 

 “There’s always been a pull to get landlords to want to participate in these programs that help offset the rental costs for our clients,” said Joy Tedeschi, vice president of housing programs at Belmont Housing.

Some landlords find legal workarounds to disqualify potential Section 8 tenants based on factors such as credit score or employment history, while others flat out refuse housing vouchers, even knowing that doing so is against the law, housing officials said.

“Anecdotally, we hear stories of clients trying to rent apartments and being told that Section 8 is not accepted,” said John McMahon, executive director of the Rental Assistance Corp.

What is Section 8? 

The Section 8 vouchers program was created as an alternative to public housing developments, which are often considered costly for the government and blamed for creating racial and economic segregation. 

Under the program, lower-income residents can take Section 8 vouchers with them to any private-sector apartment that falls within the government’s financial limits and meets its safety requirements.                                                                                                            

Despite its intent, there’s evidence the voucher program has led to segregation and inequality. In 1989, a class action lawsuit (Comer v. Kemp) accused several housing organizations in Buffalo of discriminatory administration of the Section 8 voucher program, which kept neighborhoods segregated by race and income.

The suit led to a change in where the vouchers were distributed and how tenants were educated about their options. Still, concerns remain. 

A 2019 study, for example, from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonpartisan research institute that aids in federal and state policy development, showed that in Buffalo, 61 percent of voucher-assisted families with children lived in high-poverty areas, predominantly in neighborhoods of color.

That percentage was the highest among the nation’s 50 largest metro areas, although there are indications there’s been some improvement. Updated figures are expected to be released in coming weeks.

“But I will say, relative to the other metro areas in the analysis, Buffalo is still ranked very highly in terms of the highest share of vouchers and families living in high poverty neighborhoods,” said Erik Gartland, research analyst on the center’s Housing and Income Security team.

The high rate of voucher holders in impoverished neighborhoods of color can be largely attributed to race-based discrimination that spawned from now-illegal policies, the CBPP study said. 

“In some metro areas, local patterns of racial segregation and past and present discriminatory policies are likely driving higher concentrations of voucher-affordable units in high poverty neighborhoods than would otherwise be the case,” the study said.

Investigative Post in 2022 found that while Black residents account for 35.2 percent of Buffalo’s population, they account for 6.1 percent of residents in the balance of the metropolitan area. 

Town after village after school district are overwhelmingly white in most suburbs, while 85 percent of Black residents in the city live east of Main Street. 

How payments work

Voucher holders are typically required to pay 30 percent of their income in rent, although some may pay up to 40 percent. The rest of the rent — up to fair market levels set by HUD — is paid by the federal government.

Currently in New York State, fair market rents are calculated by metropolitan statistical areas and counties. Rents for units ranging from an efficiency (a single room unit) to four-bedroom are between $951 and $1,604 in the Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls MSA. 

Starting in January, voucher awards will be based on ZIP codes within the counties, allowing the payments to adjust to neighborhood market conditions. That will result in larger subsidies in affluent communities where rents are higher, and lower payments in some poorer neighborhoods. 

In Buffalo, the biggest increases will occur in the 14222 and 14216 ZIP codes, Elmwood Village and North Buffalo, respectively, with fair -market rents ranging from $1,090 for an efficiency to $1,840 for a four-bedroom.  Section 8 rent payments will cap $100 to $150 below current maximums in the 14212 and 14215 ZIP codes on the city’s East Side.

A portion of Lackawanna — ZIP 14218 — will also see about a $100 drop in top Section 8 rent payments. 

Suburban ZIP codes showing the largest increases include 14032 and 14051 – East Amherst, Swormville and Clarence Center, reaching $1,450 for an efficiency to $2,430 for a four-bedroom. 

“Only time will tell, but it does offer the opportunity for voucher holders to be able to live in areas that they might not otherwise be able to afford,” said Raine Schreiner, vice president of CVR Associates, the third-party

firm contracted to administer the BMHA’s Section 8 program.

Higher rents/fewer apts.

Not only do suburban neighborhoods typically have higher rents than in Buffalo, they also have less rental housing.

Median rent in Erie County increased 25 percent to $1,067 from 2019 to 2023, census data shows.

In Buffalo, where 57 percent of housing is rental, the median rent  increased to just over $1,022 in 2023. In Amherst, where rentals make up 30 percent of housing, median rent hit $1,400 in 2023.

In many smaller communities, the percent of rental housing is much lower. Just 18 percent of housing in Aurora is rental, as is 16 percent of Clarence, census data shows.

Increasing rents and limited rentals are among the challenges the Section 8 program faces.

Rental listings on the home-finding site Zillow, for example,  include posts  for three-bedroom rentals for $2,000 to $5,000 in Orchard Park and as much as $2,700 in East Amherst. Those rents exceed the HUD market rate rents of $1,660 for a three-bedroom in Orchard Park, and $2,150 for East Amherst.

But the housing agency representatives are optimistic, and say Section 8 benefits landlords as well as tenants.

For tenants, besides helping to afford a safe place to live, Section 8, they say, could be a step toward home homeownership through the agency’s home buyer program.

And for landlords, they say the program offers annual rent hikes, low vacancy rates, pre-screened tenants and guaranteed payments, even if a tenant’s income decreases.

“If someone on Section 8 is in that situation where they've lost or had a drastic decrease in their income, they can notify us and we'll increase the amount of assistance so that the rent is still affordable for them,” said McMahon of RAC.

I'Jaz Ja'ciel