Housing agency warns HUD freeze on Section 8 vouchers is increasing homelessness in Haywood County

Patsy Davis, executive director of Mountain Projects, told the Haywood County Board of Commissioners that the agency's Section 8 Rural Assistance program is in a federal shortfall and the issuance of new vouchers has been frozen by HUD, worsening housing instability in the county. "We have 1,004 housing vouchers that serve Haywood and Jackson County," Davis said, noting that as of March 2025 the average cost per voucher rose from $466 (January 2022) to $746, and that funding allotted based on prior-year levels has not kept pace with rising rents. She said 825 vouchers remain issued and the waiting list—closed on Oct. 31—had 552 applicants, 415 of whom live in Haywood County.

Davis urged county officials to press federal representatives to resolve the freeze: "It's projected that we will not have any vouchers available in all of 2025 this entire year unless somebody intercedes on behalf of Haywood County on the national level," she said. Commissioners asked whether Mountain Projects lacked units to place clients; Davis answered that housing units exist but the program lacks sufficient funding to issue or supplement payments to landlords. She described effects on elderly residents, working households, and people living in cars and called the situation a driver of rising homelessness in the community.

The presentation included data showing rising fair-market rents and the program's efforts to request up to 120% of fair-market rents to recruit landlords. Commissioners and the chair said they would continue advocacy with the congressional delegation and state officials; County staff and board members agreed to keep the issue elevated with legislators.