BALTIMORE — The Housing Authority of Baltimore City has announced that they will no longer be taking applications for public housing as of December 20, 2019.
HABC has cited that while they've reduced total applications from 27,000 to 14,000, the wait time is still to long to accept new applications. The overwhelming demand for low-income housing as well as it being an average wait time of up to seven years was cited for the decision.
“This is a decision we wish we didn’t have to make but by continuing to accept applications we would be performing a disservice and creating a false sense of hope that we can accommodate applicants in the near term,” said HABC President and CEO Janet Abrahams. “The applicants at the top of our waiting list right now have been waiting on average between five and seven years. We work very hard to serve as many households as possible but simply don’t have the resources to meet the tremendous need.”
They state that the shortage of public housing and sustainable funding has been an ongoing challenge for the agencies.
Abrahams states that unfortunately the country has been under-investing in public housing for years.
“It is not a national priority. The result is a severe shortage. That is what we are contending with as we carry out our mission," said Abrahams.
Those on the waiting list and still in need of public housing are asked to notify HABC when their address or contact information changes.
