On June 3, 2014, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Transportation Housing and Urban Development (T-HUD) unanimously approved its FY 2015 spending bill. The bill includes an increase to the Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) cap from 60,000 units to 185,000 units. While the legislative text has not yet been released, the Appropriations Committee posted a summary of the bill.

The first component of RAD, which allows Public Housing and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation properties to convert to long-term, project-based assistance, is currently limited by the RAD legislation to 60,000 units. Those applications have been awarded but HUD has created a queue of projects above the 60,000 unit cap (in the order in which applications were received) to serve as the RAD waiting list. If selected projects are withdrawn or awards are revoked, HUD will draw projects from the waiting list up to the 60,000 unit cap. During HUD’s RAD Network Training earlier today, HUD announced that 2,507 units covered by awarded Commitments to Enter a Housing Assistant Payment Contract (CHAP) have been revoked or returned, freeing up room within the 60,000 unit cap. HUD is presently drawing from the waiting list as it actively seeks to expand the cap.

The second component of RAD, which allows Rent Supplement, Rental Assistance Payment, and Section 8 Moderate Rehabilitation properties to convert tenant protection vouchers to long-term, project-based assistance, is not competitive and there is no cap on the number of units that may be converted. As of December 2013, HUD approved approximately 75 projects representing over 8,300 units for the second component.

While the expansion of RAD still faces some hurdles, the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee’s T-HUD bill is certainly a step towards expanding the availability of RAD to more properties. The full Senate Appropriations Committee is scheduled to vote on the T-HUD bill tomorrow.