July 18, 2025
NYU Study Warns Two-Year Limit on Rental Assistance Would Hit Working Families Hardest
A new proposal from the Trump Administration could place a 2 year limit on federal government housing assistance.
A new analysis by NYU’s Housing Solutions Lab revealed that imposing a two-year limit on federal rental subsidies could disproportionately impact the families it aims to help. Researchers examined a decade of U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) data. The study found that 70% of households nearing the potential cutoff have already benefited from subsidies for two years or more.
This figure excludes seniors and people with disabilities, who are not subject to the proposed limits, currently representing approximately half of the 4.9 million households receiving rent assistance as of 2024.
Conversations surrounding housing assistance have come to the forefront since the Trump administration proposed changes to HUD’s current role in providing stable housing for low-income individuals.
The proposed changes could potentially place a “two-year limit on the federal government’s signature rental assistance programs.”
The study highlights a concerning pattern: these subsidies predominantly support working families with incomes well below their area’s median. These families often include children, who stand to lose a critical safety net.
“Housing assistance is especially impactful for children,” Claudia Aiken, director of new research partnerships at the Housing Solutions Lab, said. “Their health, education, employment, and earnings potential can change in really meaningful ways if they have stable housing.”
One such family is that of Havalah Hopkins, who waited years for assistance in the high-cost Seattle region. In July 2022, she and her son secured a two-bedroom public housing unit in Woodinville, Washington, for $450 a month — 30% of her income.
A comparable market-rate apartment costs around $2,000 more, according to the local housing authority.
“I feel like I was gasping for air and I’m finally able to breathe,” Hopkins said.
The subsidy enabled her to leave an abusive marriage and envision a brighter future as a caterer or party decorator. “We all can’t be lawyers and doctors — and two years isn’t enough to even become that.”
Since the proposal was disclosed, Hopkins has worried about losing stability.
“I’ve been haunted by thoughts of shoving my possessions into a van with my son,” she said.
Nationwide, families typically stay in HUD-assisted housing for about six years. HUD serves nearly 1 million households through public housing and approximately 4 million via Section 8 vouchers.
Lawmakers are debating whether the limits would help reduce waitlists or merely punish vulnerable families.
“These policies are complex and difficult to monitor, enforce, and do well,” Aiken acknowledged.
However, she noted that waitlists are “a bit of a lottery,” and time limits might improve chances for others in line.
Landlords also worry, as reported by the Associated Press, fearing that a two-year cap would destabilize voucher contracts.
Multiple housing groups recently expressed concerns to Congress, arguing that two years is “simply not enough time for most low-income tenants to change their fortunes,” according to Denise Muha, executive director of the National Leased Housing Association.
The fate of time limits now hinges on the 2026 HUD budget, which is under review by the House Appropriations Committee and so far includes no such cap. The Senate’s version is still pending.
“This week, the U.S. House appropriations committee is taking up HUD’s 2026 budget, which so far makes no mention of time limits,” HUD spokesperson Lovett said.
He emphasized the department is working with lawmakers to ensure “a seamless transition and enforcement of any new time limit.”
Noëlle Porter, director of government affairs at the National Housing Law Project, warned that the issue is far from settled.
“It is clearly a stated goal of the administration to impose work requirements and time limits on rental assistance, even though it would be wildly unpopular,” Porter said.
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