How To Get Low Income Housing

The Housing Authority manages 14 large family public housing locations (consisting of more than 6,500 units) throughout Los Angeles. To learn more about the program, available sites, and information you'll need to bring with you to your initial interview, please view the How to Apply for Public Housing here.

How to Apply

To apply for public housing, please complete the Application for Public Housing available in English and Spanish and mail it to:
Housing Authority Application Center
2600 Wilshire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA, 90057
Telephone: (213) 252-1020

Copies of the Application for Public Housing are also available at the Housing Authority Application Center and at any one of our public housing sites during our regular business hours, Monday to Friday from 8:30AM to 4:00PM. Here is the list of addresses to our public housing sites.

Waiting List

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles operates one City-wide waiting list for the Public Housing Program based on date/time of the application and family eligibility status. Residents are not able to sign up for or request a particular development. Upon verification of eligibility and pending available vacancies of the appropriate bedroom size, applicants will be provided up to three offers of units at three different sites. Offers are generated at random based upon the vacancies ready for occupancy at the time of the offer. If a household refuses all three offers, they will be removed from the wait list (they are welcome to reapply if they wish and will be assigned a new place on the list).
Applicant families who qualify for a local preference shall have priority for admission. In accordance with Section I L of the ACOP, local preferences shall be given to applicant families whose head or co-head is:

Working at least 20 hours per week at the State's minimum wage; or
Is attending an accredited institution of higher learning (college, trade school, vocational school) full-time, and the course of study is expected to lead to employment; or
Is working and attending an institution of higher learning, and the combined total is at least 20 hours per week; or
Otherwise equally income self-sufficient; or
Families whose family head and co-head, or whose sole member, are disabled or age 62 years of age and older will also receive this preference.

Additional eligibility requirements:

All adult members of the household must pass a criminal background check
The family must not have any outstanding consumer debt obligations in excess of 60% of their monthly income
At least one member of the household must have legal status. The rent for families with "mixed" (legal/citizen and non-citizen members) will exceed 30% of the adjusted monthly income due to the proration requirement as non-eligible members are not able to receive housing subsidy

Unit sizes are assigned based on family size alone, not family composition. Below is the current Occupancy Standard (families who may be eligible for two different bedrooms sizes can chose which size they would like to be considered for).

Number of Bedrooms	Number of Persons Minimum	Number of Persons Maximum
0	1	1
1	1	2
2	2	4
3	4	6
4	6	8
5	8	12

Head of Household and Co-head of Household designation - A household cannot change who is the head or co-head once the family has been certified and has signed a lease. While a family can add members following admission to the public housing program, they cannot add "co-heads" once they have been admitted.

A public housing unit cannot be "passed-on" to family members. If the remaining Head or Co-Head of the household chooses to exit the program, the unit cannot be "assigned" or passed on to remaining family members. A public housing unit is not an inheritable right.

For more information refer to the Admissions and Continued Occupancy Policy (ACOP).

Income Limits

The annual income limits are established by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Annual income is the applicant family's income before any deductions.

Effective April 01, 2020 the following income limits shall apply:

Number of Persons In Household	Extremely Low Income (30% of Median)	Very Low Income (50% of Median)	Low Income (80% of Median)
1	$23,700.00	$39,450.00	$63,100.00
2	$27,050.00	$45,050.00	$72,100.00
3	$30,450.00	$50,700.00	$81,100.00
4	$33,800.00	$56,300.00	$90,100.00
5	$36,550.00	$60,850.00	$ 97,350.00
6	$39,250.00	$65,350.00	$104,550.00
7	$41,950.00	$69,850.00	$111,750.00
8	$44,650.00	$74,350.00	$118,950.00
9	$48,600.00	$78,850.00	$126,150.00
10	$53,080.00	$83,350.00	$133,350.00
11	$57,560.00	$87,850.00	$140,600.00
12	$62,040.00	$92,350.00	$147,800.00
13	$66,520.00	$96,850.00	$155,000.00