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San Francisco Housing Authority

1815 Egbert Avenue, San Francisco, CA

There are no open waiting lists offered by San Francisco Housing Authority. Go to the California Section 8 Waiting Lists page or the California Public Housing Waiting Lists page for nearby housing applications.

Closed: City and County of San Francisco, California Mainstream Mainstream Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Waiting List

The San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) Mainstream Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waiting list is closed.

The SFHA last accepted applications for this waiting list for one day on September 29, 2021. There is no notice of when this waiting list will reopen.

Please note: According to the SFHA, "In order to apply:

  • At least one person in the household must be non – elderly (18 to 61 years at the time of admission) and disabled AND
  • Homeless OR
  • Transitioning out of an institutional facility or other segregated setting OR
  • At serious risk of institutionalization"

To apply during the opening period, applicants were required to complete the online application. Paper applications were not accepted.

The maximum income limits for each household size were as follows:

  • 1 Person $63,950 | 5 Persons $98,700
  • 2 Persons $73,100 | 6 Persons $106,000
  • 3 Persons $82,250 | 7 Persons $113,300
  • 4 Persons $91,350 | 8 Persons $120,600

Preferences have not yet been confirmed.

Selected applicants were placed on the waiting list by date and time the application is received.

The waiting list was scheduled to stay open until October 13, 2021, or until 500 applications were received. It closed within an hour of opening on September, 29th.

For more information, visit the SFHA website.

Sources: This information was verified by the SFHA on September 30, 2021.

Service Area

This waiting list is for Mainstream Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher rental assistance in City and County of San Francisco, California.

Last Updated on 10/21/2021.

Closed: City and County of San Francisco, California General Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Waiting List

The San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waiting list is currently closed. It is not known when the waiting list was last open, or when it will reopen.

Applicants can check their status and update their application here.

For more information, visit the SFHA website.

Last Updated on 06/25/2019.

Closed: Section 8 Project-Based Voucher Waiting List

The San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) Section 8 Project-Based Voucher waiting list is currently closed. It was last open for two weeks in May, 2016. There is no notice of when this waiting list will reopen.

To apply during the opening period, applicants were required to complete the online application.

This waiting list had the following preferences: San Francisco District Attorney referrals, Public Housing residents who have been approved for emergency transfer, involuntarily displaced with Residential Certificate of Preference, Involuntarily displaced with an Ellis Act Housing Preference Certificate, homeless in permanent supportive housing and shelters HSA/DPH referral, involuntary displacement from residence in San Francisco, homeless in San Francisco, substandard non-homeless in San Francisco, resident in San Francisco paying more than 70% of household income in rent.

Applicants were placed on the waiting list by random lottery, by order of preferences.

Applicants can check their status and update their application here.

For more information, visit the SFHA website.

Last Updated on 06/25/2019.

Closed: Public Housing Waiting List

The San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA) Public Housing waiting list is currently closed. 

For more information, visit the SFHA website.

Last Updated on 01/22/2020.

About San Francisco Housing Authority

Website: https://sfha.org/Pages/home.aspx.

Phone: (415) 715-5200.

About the San Francisco Housing Authority Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program

As of the HUDs most recent Voucher Management System report, San Francisco Housing Authority manages 13,010 active Housing Choice Vouchers.

The following table summarizes types of vouchers managed and the monthly costs of each as of December 31st, 2021:

Standard Homeownership Family Unification Tenant Protection Ported Out VASH Non-Elderly Disabled
Vouchers 6,412 4 112 2,126 24 827 68
Monthly Cost Per Voucher $2,386 $885 $3,298 $2,477 $2,128 $2,045 $2,596
Monthly Cost $15,296,276 $3,540 $369,332 $5,267,006 $51,074 $1,691,109 $176,516
Waiting List and Tenancy

According to the 2016 Q4 Picture of Subsidized Households database, the housing authority's voucher program has an annual turnover of 16% having issued approximately 563 vouchers in the past year. The average voucher holder has received housing benefits for 9 years and 1 months. According to the 2016 PSH database, persons who were issued a voucher in the preceding 12 months waited an average of 28 months on the waiting list1.

Income Characteristics

According to 2016 Q4 Picture of Subsidized Households data, the average voucher household contains 1.9 persons and has a household income of $18,574 per year. 96% of households were very low income (VLI) and 85% were extremely low income (ELI). 28% of households had wages as a major source of income, 4% of households had welfare (TANF, General Assistance or Public Assistance) as their primary source of income, and 66% of households had other income (Social Security, Disability or Pension) as their major source of income.

Heads of Household Characteristics

1% of households were headed by a person 24 years old or less, 22% were headed by a person 25 to 49 years old, 27% were headed by a person 51 to 60 years old, and 51% were headed by a person 62 years old or older. In addition, 8% of households were headed by a person 85 years old or older.

19% of households included children, 4% of which had two adults in the household. 15% of households with children have a female head of household. 56% of all households were headed by a female.

56% of all voucher households were headed by minorities with 22% of all heads of households being Black and 1% being Hispanic.

Of all households participating in the San Francisco Housing Authority Housing Choice Voucher program, 44% include at least one person with a disability. 46% of households with a head of household 61 years or less were headed by a person with a disability. 88% of households headed by someone 62 or older were headed by a person with a disability.

Bedroom Size and Overhousing

52% of voucher holders reside in a home with zero or 1 bedroom, 26% with 2 bedrooms and 22% with 3 or more bedrooms. 13% of voucher recipients are considered overhoused, meaning they occupy a rental unit larger than their family size requires.

Rent, Assistance, and Utility Allowances

The average monthly tenant contribution to rent by San Francisco Housing Authority voucher holders in 2016 was $479 and the average monthly HUD expenditure per voucher holder was $1,569. The average utility allowance across all voucher recipients is $110.

1. This Picture of Subsidized Households data field is the average wait time of those who received a voucher in the preceding 12 months. Due to special voucher programs like VASH, recent waiting list purges, or waiting list preferences the average wait time can vary significantly from one year to the next and it is entirely possible many current applicants on the waiting list have been waiting for assistance for far longer.