Get the Facts: Work Requirements and Time Limits Will Worsen Housing Instability
Communities thrive when all of us, no matter where we come from or how long we’ve lived here, have a safe and affordable place to call home. For many of our neighbors, including veterans, caretakers, and single parents and their children, meeting this basic need can feel impossible in today’s economy – especially when you factor in the costs of food, child care, and other basic needs. Even for people working full-time, sky-high housing costs continue to outpace wages, and homelessness is on the rise.
Americans are struggling to make ends meet – the government should do everything it can to keep us stably housed.
However, Trump’s Department of Housing and Urban Development might soon kick as many as 3 million people out of HUD-assisted housing if they exceed strict time limits, cannot meet harsh work requirements, or even if they struggle to keep up with new paperwork burdens. This change would come through a proposed rule, a draft of which was first reported in September 2025.
This proposal would make it almost impossible for families to keep a roof over their heads by setting up new hoops for them to jump through to maintain their HUD assistance. It will increase housing instability and homelessness, and complicate and multiply the amount of documentation that families and housing agencies alike will have to manage.
Check out our factsheet on what this proposal could mean for HUD-assisted housing programs and the communities who need them to thrive. This factsheet includes data on the efficacy of existing programs, the potential fallout families could face if proposals to take away housing are enacted, and our recommendations for evidence-based solutions that will help poor and working people earn more and get ahead.
This factsheet was written with national partners like the Center for Law and Social Policy, Justice in Aging, the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, and Southern Poverty Law Center.