← Back to atlas
federalUnited StatesSection 811 Project Rental Assistance Programrent_limit
On a credit unit, the section 42 gross rent test is applied to the tenant portion, because the PRA payment is comparable rental assistance
s811pra.rent_limit.lihtc_gross_rent_excludes_the_rental_assistance_payment · v1.0.0
Where an 811 PRA assisted unit is also a low-income unit in a project claiming the low-income housing credit, gross rent for the section 42 rent restriction does not include the Project Rental Assistance Payment: it is comparable rental assistance to a payment under section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937. The section 42 rent test is therefore applied to what the household pays plus the applicable utility allowance, not to the contract rent the grantee pays the owner, and the contract rent may exceed the section 42 limit without making the unit fail the rent restriction.
Subparagraph (E) is the second half of the answer and is usually the part that gets missed. As an 811 PRA household's income rises its Total Tenant Payment rises with it, so the tenant portion can climb past the section 42 gross rent limit through no act of the owner. (E) preserves rent-restricted status where a federal rental assistance payment described in (B)(i) is being made and the result is required by federal statute, which is why the basis question and the over-income question have to be answered together.
- Confidence
- high
- Effective from
- 2011-01-04
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-31
Citations
All sources verified within 1 day- Internal Revenue Code Section 42 - Low-income housing credit26 U.S.C. 42(g)(2)(B)(i)
- Internal Revenue Code Section 42 - Low-income housing credit26 U.S.C. 42(g)(2)(E)
- Part II of the Rental Assistance Contract, Section 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA)form HUD-92237-PRA (02/2025), section 2.4(a)(1)
- Supportive housing for persons with disabilities (Section 811 of the Cranston-Gonzalez National Affordable Housing Act)42 U.S.C. 8013(b)(3)