Housing Alliance HTX reopens public housing waitlists June 22

Housing Alliance HTX will start taking applications June 22 for eight public housing communities, reopening a waitlist that has been closed since 2023 and putting thousands of Houston-area households back in the running through July 6.

The lottery covers Kelly Village, Lincoln Park, Long Drive, Oxford Place, Bellerive, Lyerly, Independence Heights and Irvinton Village. Applicants may choose up to three properties, but placement will be decided by random lottery after the window closes, which makes the opening competitive from the start. Bellerive and Lyerly are reserved for seniors age 62 and older, and available units will vary by site, including one-bedroom through four-bedroom homes.

Kelly Haines, Housing Alliance HTX’s senior vice president for asset management, said residents should set up a RentCafe account before the application period opens so any access problems can be fixed in advance. That step matters because the system is being reopened after a long shutdown, and applicants who wait until the last minute could run into password or login issues just when the window opens.

People already on a public housing waitlist do not need to reapply and will keep their place in line. About 2,500 people already sitting on the Housing Choice Voucher waitlist can also opt into the public housing waitlists if they return a consent form sent by email. The Housing Choice Voucher program, often called Section 8, remains closed to new applicants.

The reopening comes as Houston’s housing-assistance system continues to strain under demand. In early 2025, the Houston Housing Authority said it had not issued new housing vouchers since December 2023 because of a lack of funding, and more than 18,000 people were on the voucher waitlist. Local reporting also showed the agency had considered removing roughly 16,000 people who did not respond to contact attempts, underscoring how easily low-income families can fall out of touch when email access, passwords and internet service are unstable.

That is why the public housing waitlist reopening will matter most to Harris County households already living closest to the edge, including seniors on fixed incomes, families with children and renters spending too much of each paycheck on housing. In December 2023, the agency said a $5 million federal grant would help voucher holders move to opportunity neighborhoods, with support for as many as 1,000 families, six new staff positions, up to $600 in moving costs and up to $1,700 for security deposits. Housing Alliance HTX said those selected from the June 22 to July 6 lottery should receive notifications and further instructions later in July. For families hoping to break out of unaffordable rent or overcrowded living arrangements, this reopening is one of the few fresh openings in years.