PHLHousing+
PHLHousing+ is a direct-to-tenant, cash rental assistance program that began in Fall 2022 in Philadelphia. The program provides monthly cash payments to 301 low-income families with children over nearly four years, ending in June 2026. Much like the in-kind subsidy provided by the national Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program, administered locally by the Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA), PHLHousing+ payments eliminate housing cost burdens by ensuring that renters pay no more than 30% of their income on housing. PHLHousing+ is administered by the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC), a quasi-public nonprofit agency operating under the umbrella of the City of Philadelphia’s Department of Planning and Development. ​
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Funding & Acknowledgements
Support for this work is Provided by the William Penn Foundation and Spring Point Partners LLC. Vincent Reina is a Stoneleigh Foundation fellow, and his fellowship provided important early and ongoing support for this project and research. The Samuel S. Fels Fund, the Neighborhood Preservation Initiative and the Housing Trust Fund also supported this work. This work has been supported in part by the Russel Sage Foundation and the National Institute of Nursing Research of the National Institutes of Health. This publication is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

We thank them for their support but acknowledge that any opinions, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of any entities that they represent or work for.

This work would not be possible without the efforts of many individuals who contributed to the design, implementation, and evaluation of PHLHousing+. Leadership and staff at the City of Philadelphia and PHDC have been crucial to the program’s creation and continuation. Leadership at the Philadelphia Housing Authority facilitated data sharing and the program evaluation. The University of Pennsylvania Center for Guaranteed Income Research provided guidance on program development, survey design, and qualitative data collection. Research assistants at the Risk and Resilience Lab at the University of Pennsylvania conducted qualitative data collection and quantitative data cleaning.
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Those seeking assistance are advised to reach out to PHDC at [email protected] for more information.
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