Housing Choice Vouchers
Rent a home with help that moves with you
The Housing Choice Voucher program (Section 8) helps more than 4,000 Albuquerque households rent privately owned housing. You pay a share of the rent based on your income; AHA pays the rest to your landlord.
How a voucher works
Once you receive a voucher, you find a home in the private market that meets basic health-and-safety standards and rents within the program's limits. You generally pay about 30% of your adjusted income toward rent and utilities, and AHA pays the rest directly to the landlord through a Housing Assistance Payment.
Vouchers are flexible: you can rent an apartment, a duplex, or a single-family home from any landlord who participates.
What can a voucher cover?
Look up the payment standard
The payment standard is the most a voucher will pay toward rent and utilities for a given home size. Pick a bedroom size to see the standard, and add your monthly income to estimate your share.
Figures shown are representative FY2026 payment standards for the Albuquerque area, used to demonstrate the tool. On a live site the lookup reads AHA's adopted payment-standard and utility-allowance schedules, so applicants and landlords see current numbers without calling. The share estimate is a simplified 30%-of-income illustration, not an eligibility determination.
Portability
Take your voucher with you
Housing Choice Vouchers are portable. If you need to move to another city, county, or state, your assistance can move with you to wherever a housing authority operates, as long as you follow the program's steps. Moving to Albuquerque from elsewhere works the same way.
For property owners
Renting to a voucher holder is good business
Steady, direct rent payments and a large pool of renters ready to lease. AHA handles the inspection and the subsidy side, so you can fill vacancies with confidence.