Community Requirements

• Community requirements for government housing are based on the Housing and Community Development Act of 1974. This is what Housing and Urban Development (HUD) uses for its guidelines, which communities must follow to have government-subsidized housing. These requirements include certifying that the community is complying with fair housing practices, reducing housing discrimination, promoting accessible housing to persons with disabilities and following the income guidelines as listed by HUD.
  
  

Housing Standard

• The requirements for government housing also have certain standards for housing units. Each family must have suitable bathing and toilet facilities that are not shared by other families; each family must reside in a unit that passes applicable zoning and construction codes; a family must have adequate living space, including the proper number of bedrooms. As an example, if a family has two sons, the family is supposed to have two bedrooms (one for the parents and one for the boys); if a family has one boy and one girl, then the family needs three bedrooms.
  
  

Income

• Income standards are maintained by HUD. According to HUD, a lower income family meets 80 percent of the median gross income. A low-income family has limits of 50 percent income of the median gross income. And an extremely low-income family has limits of 30 percent of the median gross income. Each family's income is judged by the size of the family, which can range from a single person upwards. Median gross income levels are determined by the area the family lives in because of the range of income levels across the country.
  
  

History

• Other requirements for government housing are based on both family and personal history. Some considerations include criminal records, payment history with regards to rent and the ability to get along with neighbors. Convictions from drug use, sexual offenses, crimes involving weapons and abuse of children are often what bar families from government housing.
  
  

Employment

• While employment itself is not a requirement for government housing, having a sustainable income is. Persons with Social Security Income, Disability Income or Welfare are therefore not excluded from government housing. If you are employable, in most communities, you are required to have up to 30 hours of work per week to be allowed into government housing.