HCV (Section 8) Frequently Asked Questions Portability Section 8 Administrative Plan Voucher Payment Standards

Voucher Payment Standards

Voucher Payment Standards are the maximum amount of subsidy the WHHA will pay to the owner on behalf of a voucher holder. WHHA's payment standard schedule is based on the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for each unit size established by HUD. These standards can be set between 90% and 110% of the published FMR.

The FY 2025 Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL MSA FMRs for All Bedroom Sizes

Final FY 2025 and Final FY 2024 FMRs By Unit Bedrooms

FY 2025 Housing Choice Voucher Program Payment Standards

Efficiency - $1,085
1 Bedroom - $1,092
2 Bedroom - $1,337
3 Bedroom - $1,797
4 Bedroom - $2,245

FY 2024 Housing Choice Voucher Program Payment Standards

Efficiency - $1,006
1 Bedroom - $1,012
2 Bedroom - $1,250
3 Bedroom - $1,679
4 Bedroom - $2,121

Polk County, FL is part of the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL MSA, which consists of the following counties: Polk County, FL. All information here applies to the entirety of the Lakeland-Winter Haven, FL MSA.

Fair Market Rent Calculation Methodology
Fair Market Rents for metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan FMR areas are developed as follows:

Calculate the Base Rent: HUD uses 2018-2022 5-year American Community Survey (ACS) estimates of 2-bedroom adjusted standard quality gross rents calculated for each FMR area as the new basis for FY2025, provided the estimate is statistically reliable. For FY2025, the test for reliability is whether the margin of error for the estimate is less than 50% of the estimate itself and whether the ACS estimate is based on at least 100 survey cases. HUD does not receive the exact number of survey cases, but rather a categorical variable known as the count indicator indicating a range of cases. An estimate based on at least 100 cases corresponds to a count indicator of 4 or higher.

If an area does not have a reliable 2018-2022 5-year estimate, HUD checks whether the area has had at least 2 minimally reliable estimates in the past 3 years, or estimates that meet the 50% margin of error test described above. If so, the FY2025 base rent is the average of the inflated ACS estimates.