| Your situation | Program | Key condition | Planning use |
|---|---|---|---|
| Renting with a Housing Choice Voucher and wanting to move to a different neighborhood | Housing Opportunity Program (HOP) mobility counseling | Current voucher participant for at least two years, in good standing | Ask about HOP once you pass the two-year mark. Support after a move to an Opportunity Area lasts up to one year. |
| Renting with a voucher and unsure of your rights as a tenant | HOP workshops | Mandatory for HOP families | Use them to learn budgeting and landlord/tenant rights before you sign a new lease. |
| Buying a first home | Turn the Key, run by the Philadelphia Housing Development Corporation (PHDC) | Household income no higher than 100% of area median income (AMI) | Up to $75,000 in mortgage buydown assistance on newly built homes, plus a $10,000 Philly First Home grant toward closing costs. |
These figures come from the Philadelphia Housing Authority’s HOP page and PHDC’s Turn the Key page.
Affordable housing programs Philadelphia households can use fall into rental help, buying help and tenant protections, and several of them measure eligibility against area median income. Find your situation below before you apply.
This guide covers long-term assistance. If you need a bed or crisis help now, start with homeless services philadelphia. To see which city departments sit behind these programs, read how is philadelphia city government organized.
Renters with a Housing Choice Voucher
The Philadelphia Housing Authority (PHA) runs the Housing Choice Voucher program. Its Housing Opportunity Program is aimed at families who already hold one.
Mobility counseling through HOP
HOP provides Mobility Counseling to help Housing Choice Voucher families move to quality housing. The program is open to current participants who have been on the voucher program for at least two years and who are in good standing. That makes it a good fit for established voucher holders who want help moving and do not want to search alone. It is not a route for newer participants, who will need to reach the two-year mark first, and it is not a way to obtain a voucher.
The support does not stop at the move. PHA states that HOP stays involved for up to one year after a family moves to an Opportunity Area, so the help covers the settling-in period as well as the search. Families also complete mandatory workshops on household budgeting and landlord/tenant rights. Because attendance is required, plan for that time commitment when you decide whether to enroll.
Where the voucher waitlist fits
HOP begins only after a family already holds a voucher, so it does not replace the Housing Choice Voucher waitlist. Waitlist status and opening dates are set by PHA and can change, so check PHA directly before planning around a date. While you wait, the other options in this guide, such as income-based apartments and buying programs, do not depend on a voucher.
Income-based apartments from community developers
NKCDC apartments for rent
Neighborhood-based developers offer another way to rent at a controlled price. At the buildings listed by NKCDC, tenants must meet a maximum annual income of 60% of area median income. Rents vary based on income and apartment size, and the page gives an example rent of $800 per month for a one-bedroom.
This option suits renters whose income sits under that ceiling and who want a specific set of listed buildings to compare. The 60% limit is tighter than the 100% ceiling for the buying program below, so a household above it should look at ownership programs or other rental listings instead of assuming it will qualify.
Buying a home with city help
Ownership programs in Philadelphia attach to newly built homes on city land. The main decision is how your income compares with each program’s band.
Turn the Key from PHDC
Turn the Key offers income-eligible first-time homebuyers up to $75,000 in mortgage buydown assistance on newly built homes. It also provides the $10,000 Philly First Home grant to help with closing costs. PHDC says it is building these houses on publicly owned land across the city, so your choices depend on where homes are currently being built.
Household income can be no higher than 100% of AMI for your household size. PHDC’s examples of the maximum annual household income are $85,900 for one person, $98,200 for two people and $122,700 for four people, with $9,800 added for each person above eight. Check your own family size against the full chart before spending time on an application.
You must also complete PHDC-approved one-on-one homeownership counseling before signing an Agreement of Sale. Do this early, because signing first would put you out of step with the program. Counseling is the step buyers most often postpone, and it is a condition of the program rather than a courtesy.
Workforce Housing Program
The city also uses land sales to bring prices down. According to a HUD USER case study, Philadelphia created the Workforce Housing Program in 2014 to streamline procedures for building on city-owned land. It is designed so that developers can profitably deliver homes affordable to purchasers earning 120% of AMI or less, and the program has produced more than 200 new units.
In one example from the case study, a discounted land sale price enabled the developer to offer 16 houses at $229,990. Restrictive covenants keep the units owner-occupied and affordable to workforce households for an initial 10-year period, with a 30-year period if a unit is sold within 10 years. This route suits buyers who earn too much for the lowest-income programs but still struggle at market prices. Expect resale conditions to follow the home.
Tenant protections and lease basics
Every renter in this guide, voucher holder or not, signs a lease, and that is where most protections apply. PHA’s HOP workshops show what the agency considers essential knowledge: household budgeting and landlord/tenant rights, including security deposit rights and what to do if you are denied housing based on your race or because you have children.
- Security deposits: learn your rights before you hand one over, not after a dispute starts.
- Denial of housing: a denial based on race or on having children is a topic HOP teaches families to respond to, so do not accept it as routine.
- Written terms: read the whole lease before signing, because the lease is the document a dispute will turn on.
Renters who are not in HOP can still use Philadelphia’s city code and local legal aid organizations to confirm the specific rules that apply to their situation. Do that before a problem escalates, since a documented question early is easier to resolve than a dispute after a move.
Reading income limits against area median income
Area median income is the yardstick behind most of these programs, and the percentage attached to each program tells you where you fit. NKCDC’s apartments use a 60% ceiling. Turn the Key allows household income up to 100%. HUD USER describes the workforce band as 80 to 120 percent of AMI.
These bands overlap, so a household may qualify for more than one path. Compare the percentage and the household-size chart for each program rather than a single dollar figure, because the limit changes with the number of people in your home. If the income ceiling is not your obstacle but steady work is, philadelphia workforce development programs cover training that can support a housing plan.
Frequently asked questions
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Does a Turn the Key application put me on a waiting list? | No. PHDC states that the form does not guarantee housing or add you to a waiting list. |
| Who counts as a first-time homebuyer? | For Turn the Key, it is a person who has never owned a home or who has not owned a home for three years before applying. |
| Where can I get the required housing counseling? | PHDC states that housing counseling is available through PHDC and other city-funded agencies. |
