How many subsidized housing units are available in Kent County, RI?
About 4,512 subsidized housing units in Kent County, RI in 2023. Approximately 11.0% of these were unoccupied and available to rent. Federally subsidized rental housing began with 1937’s US Housing Act, which created the United States Housing Authority and provided financial assistance to state and local governments for housing low-income people. Since then, the government has provided housing assistance to low-income renters through different programs overseen by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
In 2023
4.5K
subsidized housing units existed in Kent County
In 2023
496
subsidized housing units were unoccupied and available to rent
In 2023
11%
of all subsidized housing units were available to rent
There were about 4012 occupied subsidized housing units in 2022, and around 17439 occupied rental units — both subsidized and unsubsidized — in Kent County, RI. That meant 23% of all occupied rentals in Kent County were provided by housing assistance programs. In 2022, 11% of all subsidized units in Kent County were vacant, compared with 4% of all available rentals, which includes both subsidized and unsubsidized units.
The number of available subsidized housing units varies throughout Kent County, RI. Administered by local public housing authorities (PHAs), availability is shaped by local policy and factors like geography (e.g., urban vs. rural vs. suburban), need, and more.
In 2023, Kent County provided 263 subsidized housing units per 10K people.
Subsidized housing can take different forms — from high-rise buildings to garden-style apartments to single-family dwellings, duplexes, and more — but all are accessed via eight different housing assistance programs under HUD. These are classified as either public housing; tenant-based programs; or privately-owned, project-based housing.
Tenant-based programs — known today as the Housing Choice Voucher program — allow recipients to choose their own housing in the private market, so long as it meets program requirements. Privately-owned, project based programs provide subsidized housing in larger, multifamily housing developments through agreements between landlords and HUD. Public housing units are built and managed by local housing agencies.
In 2023, the most common type of subsidized housing in Kent County, RI was Privately-owned, project-based with 2,356 housing units. These accounted for 52.2% of the county’s subsidized housing stock. Tenant-based programs accounted for 25.8% and public housing accounted for 21.9%.
Privately-owned, project-based assistance was the most common type of housing program in 2023.
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Keep exploring
- How does the government support people with Section 8 housing? - The Department of Housing and Urban Development offers two rental assistance programs for low-income Americans under Section 8 housing — Project-Based Rental Assistance and Housing Choice Vouchers.
- What’s in Trump’s 2026 budget proposal? - The fiscal year 2026 budget proposal would keep base discretionary spending level.
- How many people live in subsidized housing in Kent County, RI?
- How many vacant homes are there in the US? - Over 15 million American homes — approximately 10% of the country’s housing inventory — were vacant in 2024.
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