Every year, HUD establishes the ceilings for rental payments, plus utility allowances. Let's say that the ceiling in Houston is $1,800 for a 1BR apartment. That

Every year, HUD establishes the ceilings for rental payments, plus utility allowances. Let's say that the ceiling in Houston is $1,800 for a 1BR apartment. That means that landlords who charge $1,800 or less to rent such a unit, are the only ones eligible to participate in the HCV (Section 8) program. Therefore, people will colloquially refer to HCV-participant communities as "Affordable Housing" because if a landlord charges $1801.00, they're not eligible to receive HUD payments and HCV holders literally can't afford to live there. Therefore, the landlords are presented with a bright-line; either they're in this public housing "project" or they're not. Speaking of Projects, the "old way" was for HUD to build the buildings and HUD more-or-less directly managed the Project Housing, and the way it's gone with commercial landlords is a relatively new development, if you will.