HUD Section 811 PRA FY2027: $98M for 14 States, Weeks After a $150M Round
November 11, 2026 · 6 min read
Granted Research Team · Editorial policy
Sixteen days after HUD announced $150 million in Section 811 Project Rental Assistance awards to 21 states, it opened the next round.
The Project Rental Assistance Program of Section 811 Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities FY 2027 (HSG-2700-DC-0053, Assistance Listing 14.326) was posted November 5. It lists $98,000,000 in total funding, 14 expected awards, a per-award maximum of $7,094,211, and an application deadline of 11:59 p.m. Eastern on April 20, 2027. It is a cooperative agreement with no cost share, and only state governments may apply.
Back-to-back rounds are unusual for this program. Section 811 PRA has often gone years between competitions, and housing finance agencies that missed one round could wait a long time for the next. That makes the FY2027 round worth a hard look from the roughly 30 states that did not win in October. It also comes with a budget problem that applicants should understand before they spend five months on an application.
What 811 PRA Does
Section 811 PRA does not build anything. It is a long-term operating subsidy that HUD gives to a state housing agency, which then signs rental assistance contracts with owners of multifamily properties, usually properties financed with Low-Income Housing Tax Credits or HOME funds. The subsidized units are reserved for extremely low-income households in which at least one member has a long-term disability and is between 18 and 61 years old when they move in. Tenants pay no more than 30 percent of adjusted income toward rent.
The design is about integration. Under the FY2026 NOFO's limitation on units assisted, no more than 25 percent of a property's units can be used for supportive housing for people with disabilities or carry an occupancy preference for them, counting every federal and state program together. Assisted units must be spread throughout the building. Units already receiving federal or state operating assistance are not eligible, and neither are units with age-62-and-over use agreements.
Each state housing agency must partner with its state health and human services agency and its Medicaid agency through an Inter-Agency Partnership Agreement. Those agencies identify tenants who need community-based long-term services, often people leaving institutions or at risk of entering one, and make sure services are available. Tenants cannot be required to accept services as a condition of tenancy.
The FY2026 NOFO described the structure: a 20-year period of performance, with the initial award funding five years of rental assistance "as required by statute." After that, contracts are renewed from annual appropriations.
The October Round Sets the Bar
The FY2026 NOFO (HSG-2600-DC-0053) offered about $158 million for an estimated 16 awards, with applications due July 13, 2026. On October 20, HUD announced more than $150 million to 21 state housing agencies, five more than it had projected:
- $7,450,000 each (18 states): Connecticut, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Washington, Wisconsin
- California: $6,812,031
- Nebraska: $6,000,000
- Pennsylvania: $3,527,760
Those figures add up to about $150.4 million. Most winners received the same amount, which suggests a de facto ceiling of $7.45 million in FY2026.
The FY2027 ceiling of $7,094,211 is about 5 percent lower, and the round is 38 percent smaller. If HUD funds every state close to the ceiling, $98 million covers 13 or 14 applicants, which matches the listing. The listing's $1 minimum is a placeholder, not a meaningful floor.
The bigger question is whether the 21 October winners can come back for more. As of this writing, the listing on Simpler.Grants.gov says "No documents are currently available," so the full NOFO with its eligibility rules has not been posted. Until it is, the safe assumption is that the FY2027 round is aimed mainly at states not on the October list. That includes some large states: Texas, Florida, New York, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, and Colorado are among those that did not receive FY2026 awards. If your state is one of them, this round is your opening.
A $98 Million Coincidence in the Appropriations Bill
The FY2027 money comes with a budget complication.
HUD's FY2027 Congressional Justification for Section 811 requests $266 million, $21 million below the FY2026 enacted level of $287 million. All of it would go to renewing existing contracts ($262 million) and administrative costs (up to $4 million). The request includes no new money for "Capital Advance and PRA (Expansion)." The expansion line runs only on carryover: $240.6 million carried into 2025, and $174.6 million carried into 2026.
Then there is the House's FY2027 THUD bill, released May 20, 2026. In its analysis, the National Low Income Housing Coalition notes the bill would permanently rescind unobligated balances from the FY2025 HUD appropriations, including "$98 million for the Section 811 Housing for Persons with Disabilities program." The same bill would raise overall Section 811 funding 2.7 percent to $295 million, but that increase goes to keeping existing contracts funded.
The rescission figure matches the FY2027 NOFO pool exactly. HUD has not said where the FY2027 money comes from, and the match could be a coincidence. But unobligated expansion carryover is the most plausible source of a new PRA round under a budget that requests no new PRA money, and unobligated balances are exactly what a rescission recaptures. If a final FY2027 THUD bill enacts the House rescission before HUD signs cooperative agreements, this round could shrink or disappear. If HUD obligates the money first, the rescission has nothing to recapture.
Applicants can't control this. They can plan for it: spend the first two months on work that is useful anyway (the Inter-Agency Partnership Agreement, owner outreach, a pipeline of LIHTC properties) and watch the appropriations calendar before committing outside consultants. Follow the Granted News desk for appropriations updates.
How Applications Are Scored
The FY2027 rating factors won't be confirmed until the NOFO is posted, but the FY2026 structure is the best guide. That NOFO scored applications out of 100 points, with a 75-point minimum to be eligible for selection. HUD then funded applications in rank order until money ran out:
| FY2026 Rating Factor | Points |
|---|---|
| 1. Applicant's and State HHS/Medicaid Agencies' Capacity | 33 |
| 2. Need / Using Housing as a Platform | 5 |
| 3. Soundness of Approach | 55 |
| 4. Achieving Results, Program Evaluation | 7 |
Soundness of Approach, at 55 points, is where applications win or lose. In FY2026, HUD moved "PRA Funding Structure" into property selection criteria for new construction and raised that sub-factor from 8 to 10 points. Reviewers want evidence that the agency already has a pipeline of eligible LIHTC or HOME properties and owners willing to sign 20-year use agreements. Capacity points reward experience managing Section 8 project-based assistance through HUD's TRACS system (up to 6 points in FY2026) and compliance monitoring (up to 5).
The FY2026 NOFO also removed requirements, and FY2027 will likely keep the changes. HUD dropped the narrative responses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing, climate change, and environmental justice. It dropped the Limited English Proficiency and Energy and Water Conservation program requirements, and it removed initial rent limits tied to Fair Market Rent. Annual rent adjustments still use the Operating Cost Adjustment Factor, and owners can now request a rent comparability study once every five years. That rent flexibility is a recruiting tool: tell owners about it in your outreach.
The One-Applicant-Per-State Trap
Only one applicant per state can be funded, and the state health and human services/Medicaid agency decides which one. Eligible applicants include any state or local housing agency that allocates LIHTC under IRC Section 42 or administers HOME or a similar program, so in some states a city housing finance agency could compete with the state HFA. If the Medicaid agency signs partnership agreements with more than one applicant, none of them will be considered.
That rule turns the Medicaid partnership into the first deadline. Get the Medicaid agency's commitment in writing by January, settle internally which housing agency applies, and make sure no competing application names the same Medicaid agency.
Past performance can also disqualify you. Under the FY2026 NOFO, a state with an existing 811 PRA grant that shows "low performance" at application closing is not eligible, and an applicant with a documented history of noncompliance in other HUD or federal programs can be excluded. HUD said it would not use performance data from the FY2019 and FY2023 rounds, which is a break for agencies whose recent awards are still leasing up. States with older PRA grants and slow lease-up should check their drawdown and occupancy numbers before April.
Questions go to 811PRANOFO@HUD.GOV. Watch the opportunity page for the NOFO attachment, which will settle the repeat-winner question.
Five months is enough time for a strong application, but only if the Medicaid partnership, property pipeline, and owner commitments are moving by the new year. Granted can help housing agencies organize those pieces into a submission-ready narrative well before April 20.