Oklahoma, Texas collaborate on Houston affordable housing effort

HOUSTON (AP) – Officials in Oklahoma and Texas are collaborating to provide housing vouchers for low-income residents in Houston after flooding from Hurricane Harvey ruined many of the limited affordable-housing options.

The Houston Housing Authority said Tuesday that the Oklahoma City Housing Authority would provide dozens of vouchers that people in Houston can use for rental housing there or in another city.

The Houston Housing Authority is facing a funding shortfall that prompted it to stop issuing its own vouchers in April. Officials say there aren’t enough public-housing units in Houston for tenants who need them.

Heavy rains that followed Harvey damaged several Houston Housing Authority properties, affecting more than 900 families.

The voucher program, formerly known as Section 8, relies on federal funding to provide rental housing in the private market at an affordable price.