Yakima Housing Authority is a housing authority that participates in the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV), Public Housing, Family Self-Sufficiency, Veteran Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH), Section 8 Project-Based Voucher (PBV), Mainstream Voucher, and Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) programs. As of June 16th, 2021, Yakima Housing Authority has 3 waiting lists that are open now or opening soon.
Yakima Housing Authority serves Kittitas County and Yakima County.
Open Yakima Housing Authority Waiting Lists
Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, some waiting list openings may be postponed until further notice. Application methods may change, as well. Visit the housing authority's website for the latest on its current operations, if one is available. If there is no information online, you can contact the housing authority directly. Office operations may be different from usual, and it may take days or weeks to get a response.
Yakima Housing Authority Website: https://www.yakimahousing.org/.
Yakima Housing Authority Phone: (509) 453-3106.
COVID-19 Update:
As of December 21, 2020 the YHA website states "Due to COVID-19, the Yakima Housing Authority office is closed to the public until further notice"
More information is available here.
Open Until Further Notice:
Family Housing Waiting List
How To Apply to the Waiting List
The Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) waiting list for Family Housing apartments is currently open. Applications are being accepted since at least December, 2018, until further notice.
There are two ways to apply during the opening period:
- Visit the YHA office, located at 810 North 6th Ave, Yakima, WA 98902.
- Complete the online application here.
Preferences have not yet been confirmed.
For more information, visit the YHA Family Housing page, or the YHA website.
Reasonable Accommodation
Applicants who need help completing the application due to disability can make a reasonable accommodation request to the housing authority via (509) 453-3106.
Last Updated on 12/28/2020.
Open Until Further Notice:
Elderly/Disabled Housing Waiting List
How To Apply to the Waiting List
The Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) waiting list for Elderly/Disabled Housing apartments is currently open. Applications are being accepted since at least December, 2018, until further notice.
There are two ways to apply during the opening period:
- Visit the YHA office, located at 810 North 6th Ave, Yakima, WA 98902.
- Complete the online application here.
Preferences have not yet been confirmed.
For more information, visit the YHA Elderly & Disabled Housing page, or the YHA website.
Reasonable Accommodation
Applicants who need help completing the application due to disability can make a reasonable accommodation request to the housing authority via (509) 453-3106.
Last Updated on 12/28/2020.
Open Until Further Notice:
Farmworker Housing Waiting List
How To Apply to the Waiting List
The Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) waiting list for Farmworker Housing apartments is currently open. Applications are being accepted since at least December, 2018, until further notice.
There are two ways to apply during the opening period:
- Visit the YHA office, located at 810 North 6th Ave, Yakima, WA 98902.
- Complete the online application here.
Preferences have not yet been confirmed.
For more information, visit the YHA Farmworker Housing page, or the YHA website.
Reasonable Accommodation
Applicants who need help completing the application due to disability can make a reasonable accommodation request to the housing authority via (509) 453-3106.
Last Updated on 12/28/2020.
Other Yakima Housing Authority Waiting Lists
Closed:
Yakima and Kittitas County, Washington Mainstream Housing Choice Voucher Waiting List
How To Apply to the Waiting List
The Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) Mainstream (Non-Elderly Disabled) Housing Choice Voucher waiting list is currently closed. It is not known when this waiting list was last open, or when it will reopen.
Please note: Eligible families must include at least one household member who is over the age of 18, but no more than 62 years of age, and who has a disability.
To apply during the opening period, applicants were required to complete the online application.
This waiting list had the following preferences: Live or Work Locally; Displaced Victims of Domestic Violence.
Selected applicants were placed on the waiting list by date and time the application was received, by order of preferences.
For more information, visit the YHA Section 8 Housing page, or the YHA website.
Last Updated on 01/14/2020.
Closed:
Yakima and Kittitas County, Washington Housing Choice Voucher Waiting List
How To Apply to the Waiting List
The Yakima Housing Authority (YHA) Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher waiting list is currently closed. Applications were last accepted from January 1, 2021, until January 31, 2021. 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:
- Involuntary Displacement: Applicants who have vacated housing as a result of:
- Victims of domestic violence who:
- Have vacated due to actual or threatened physical violence directed against the applicant or the applicant’s family by a spouse or other household member, or
- Live in housing with an individual who engages in such violence. Such “actual” or “threatened” violence must have occurred recently or be of a continuing nature. An applicant who lives in a violent neighborhood or is fearful of other violence outside the household is not considered involuntarily displaced.
- Natural disaster (fire, flood, hurricane, earthquake, etc)
- As verified by local, state, or federal authorities within the last 6 months; PHA action (emergency relocation, demolition, sale of property, extensive rehabilitation Program, Housing Choice Voucher Program, Homeownership Program) to meet specific housing needs (i.e. bedroom size, reasonable accommodation, or to satisfy legal judgements. The following are acceptable forms of verification:
- Letter from the local, state or federal authority verifying the natural disaster; the residence is uninhabitable; and date of disaster must be included in the letter; or
- Letter from the PHA displacing the family
- Local Preference
- For the purpose of priority for admission, the YHA will provide for a local preference for persons who reside in the jurisdictional area that the YHA operates the program, over families that do not reside, work or notified that they will be working in the jurisdictional area of YHA. The area of jurisdiction is Yakima and Kittitas Counties, Washington.
200 applicants were placed on the waiting list by random lottery, weighed by order of preferences.
For more information, visit the YHA Section 8 Housing page, or the YHA website.
Sources: This information was verified by the YHA public notice on December 28, 2020.
Service Area
This waiting list is for rental assistance in Yakima and Kittitas County, Washington.
Last Updated on 02/01/2021.
About Yakima Housing Authority
More information about Yakima Housing Authority can be found on its website at https://www.yakimahousing.org/.
Representatives of Yakima Housing Authority may be available by phone at (509) 453-3106. Unless otherwise noted above, applications will not be provided or accepted by phone.
About the Yakima Housing Authority Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program
As of the HUDs most recent Voucher Management System report, Yakima Housing Authority manages 1,094 active Housing Choice Vouchers.
The following is a summary of the types of vouchers managed and the monthly costs of each as of December 31st, 2020:
|
Standard | Tenant Protection | Ported Out | VASH | Non-Elderly Disabled |
| Vouchers |
664 | 17 | 23 | 74 | 24 |
| Monthly Cost Per Voucher |
$572 | $547 | $1,149 | $399 | $455 |
| Monthly Cost |
$379,659 | $9,302 | $26,422 | $29,510 | $10,909 |
Household Characteristics of Voucher Holders for Yakima Housing Authority
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 21% having issued approximately 40 vouchers in the past year. The average voucher holder has received housing benefits for 5 years and 5 months. According to the 2016 PSH database, persons who were issued a voucher in the preceding 12 months waited an average of 20 months on the waiting list1.
Income Characteristics
According to 2016 Q4 Picture of Subsidized Households data, the average voucher household contains 2.4 persons and has a household income of $13,044 per year. 92% of households were very low income (VLI) and 66% were extremely low income (ELI). 27% of households had wages as a major source of income, 8% of households had welfare (TANF, General Assistance or Public Assistance) as their primary source of income, and 63% of households had other income (Social Security, Disability or Pension) as their major source of income.
Heads of Household Characteristics
4% of households were headed by a person 24 years old or less, 53% were headed by a person 25 to 49 years old, 19% were headed by a person 51 to 60 years old, and 24% were headed by a person 62 years old or older. In addition, 2% of households were headed by a person 85 years old or older.
50% of households included children, 4% of which had two adults in the household. 42% of households with children have a female head of household. 71% of all households were headed by a female.
42% of all voucher households were headed by minorities with 6% of all heads of households being Black and 0% being Hispanic.
Of all households participating in the Yakima Housing Authority Housing Choice Voucher program, 19% include at least one person with a disability. 32% of households with a head of household 61 years or less were headed by a person with a disability. 61% of households headed by someone 62 or older were headed by a person with a disability.
Bedroom Size and Overhousing
39% of voucher holders reside in a home with zero or 1 bedroom, 29% with 2 bedrooms and 31% with 3 or more bedrooms. 12% 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 Yakima Housing Authority voucher holders in 2016 was $331 and the average monthly HUD expenditure per voucher holder was $556. The average utility allowance across all voucher recipients is $91.
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.
Public Housing Apartments Operated by Yakima Housing Authority
504 Pacific Ave
Yakima, Washington
