Section 8, as it is commonly known, is the national Housing Choice Voucher Program funded by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). With a Section 8 voucher, low-income individuals and families can rent their next home. The tenant pays up to 40 percent of his or her income toward rent and utilities; the Section 8 voucher covers the rest of the housing costs. The subsidy is paid directly to the landlord.

After completing the application and intake process, eligible households are issued a Section 8 voucher that indicates how much rent and utilities will be paid by the program. They then have 60 days to find a suitable rental property. Units must meet certain standards of health and safety, and the rent must be comparable to rents charged for market-rate units in the area. HUD and other agencies set these guidelines.

Applying for Section 8 (Please see note at bottom of this section)

The Section 8 waiting list is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD). All applications will be added to the waiting list according to the date and time of receipt.

You may obtain an application by clicking here.

Should you have questions or need assistance completing this application, call the MBHP Housing Consumer Education Center at (617) 425-6700. HCEC can help you to apply to many programs for which you may qualify.

Applications can also be obtained by:

• Sending your mailed request for an application to Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, 125 Lincoln St. 5th Floor, Boston, MA 02111-2503. The request must include your name, street address, city or town, zip code, and telephone number. Metropolitan Boston Housing Partnership, Inc. is not responsible for requests for applications lost in the mail.
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• Stop by our office at 125 Lincoln Street , 5th Floor, Boston. MBHP is open from 8:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Only one application per household will be accepted. Incomplete applications cannot be accepted. E-mail or faxed applications cannot be accepted.

Applications will be accepted without regard to race, color, creed, sex, religion, disability, sexual orientation, marital status, or national origin. No persons will be denied an application because of membership in a class such as recipients of public assistance or veteran status, etc. Applying for this program will not affect your placement on any other rental assistance or public housing waiting list.

Once you have applied for Section 8, please remember to notify us in writing of any changes in your address or contact information. Failure to notify us of these changes may result in your removal from the Section 8 waitlist. If you are a current applicant and would like to confirm your status on the Section 8 waitlist please submit your request in writing to:
     MBHP Section 8 Waitlist
     125 Lincoln Street, 5th Floor
     Boston, MA 02111-2503

Note: Applicants who already have completed the application process and who want to know the status of their waiting list application MUST submit a request to MBHP in writing that includes their name, Social Security Number and current mailing address. MBHP will respond in writing withing two to three weeks. To protect applicants' privacy, no information regarding the status of an application - including its status on waiting lists - can be give out over the phone.

Please Note: Effective June 5, 2009, the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) placed a temporary moratorium on applications to MBHP’s project-based (not mobile) Section 8 waiting lists.

The purpose of the moratorium is to allow DHCD to update the lists, purging them of outdated information so that they better reflect applicants’ housing location choices. The goal is to improve efficiency and reduce the amount of time it takes to select applicants for project-based vacancies. It is possible that current waiting list applicants will be contacted by mail during this process to provide DHCD with updated information.

During the moratorium, MBHP will be unable to accept project-based applications, and any received after the June 5 date will be returned with notice of the temporary closing of the waiting lists.

Once the waiting lists re-open and MBHP is able to start accepting applications again, it will be noted on this Web page.