
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, November 13, 1993                   TAG: 9311130149
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: C5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: The Washington Post
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

AID TO RENTERS A BUDGET TARGET

The Clinton administration wants to slice more than $1.7 billion from the fiscal 1994 housing and development budget, particularly zeroing in on the agency's rental-assistance program.

The $1.7 billion is more than any other federal agency is being asked to give up in a government-wide belt-tightening. If Congress approves, the amount will be deducted from the $25.2 billion appropriation already approved by Congress for the Department of Housing and Urban Development for next year.

One of the biggest cuts would come in the department's mammoth rental-assistance program, which helps poor and moderate-income people pay rent in privately owned housing in their communities.

White House officials believe they can economize by combining housing vouchers and certificates, two methods being used to dispense aid that eligible families use to rent homes and apartments in privately owned housing, according to those familiar with budget discussions.

The administration prefers vouchers, which permit families to rent units beyond those with fair-market rents set by the government, according to advocates for low-income families.

As a result, families using vouchers are likely to pay more for their rent than they would with certificates, under which tenants pay a flat 30 percent of their income in rent and the government pays the rest.

David Bryson of the National Housing Law Project, a nonprofit group, said HUD studies show "there are over 5 million families who are in dire need of housing assistance but cannot get it."

by CNB