Public Housing Waiting List

The Needham Housing Authority (NHA) waiting list for Public Housing apartments is currently open. Applications are being accepted since at least December, 2020, until further notice.

To apply during the opening period, print the application and forms available online here. Select the document links under the "Required Forms" section.

Once the application has been completed, it can be mailed or hand delivered to Needham Housing Authority, 28 Capt. Robert Cook Drive, Needham, MA 02494.

This waiting list has the following preferences: 

• Local
  Local preference will be granted to any applicant if any member of
   the applicant household:
  • lives in Needham: or
  • attends school in Needham; or
  • works in Needham or who has been hired to work in Needham: or
  • is age 62 or older and has ever lived in Needham: or
  • has an immediate family member who resides in Needham.
• Working Family
  This preference will be granted to an applicant household whose Head, spouse or sole member is:
  • Gainfully employed working at least 20 hours per week earning at least minimum wage; or
  • age 62 or older; or
  • receiving Social Security disability benefits, Supplemental Security Disability Benefits or any other payments based on the individual inability to work. 
• Veteran
  • This preference will be granted to any applicant who has served in the U.S. military and has been discharged other than dishonorably or to the widow of a veteran or an applicant household which includes minor children of a veteran.
• Involuntarily Displaced
  To qualify for this preference, an applicant must have been involuntarily displaced and not yet living in standard replacement housing. Housing is not standard replacement housing if it is seriously overcrowded or the applicant is not occupying replacement housing pursuant to a lease or occupancy agreement; or within six months from the date of certification or verification, the applicant will be involuntarily displaced. Involuntary displacement includes:
  • displacement due to a natural disaster such as fire, flood or earthquake;
  • displacement by government action so that a public improvement can be carried out or applicant’s dwelling units has been condemned by the local community as unfit for human habitation;
  • displacement by the landlord for reasons beyond the applicant’s ability to control;
  • displacement due to actual or threatened physical violence (the actual or threatened physical must have occurred recently or be of a continuous nature and applicant must certify that the person who engaged in the violence will not reside in applicant’s household);
  • displacement top avoid reprisals such as an applicant cooperating with a new law Enforcement agency (this preference may only be granted if a law enforcement Agency has carried out a threat assessment and recommends rehousing the applicant Household);
  • displacement due to hate crimes (hate crimes are defined as actual or threatened physical violence that is based on a victim’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, handicap or familial status);
  • displacement due to the inaccessibility of the applicant’s present housing (this preference occurs when a member of the applicants household has an impairment which makes the person unable to use critical elements of the unit and the owner of the units is not obligated  to make the unit accessible); and/or, displacement due to HUD disposition of a multifamily development.
  • ​​​​​It should be noted that involuntary displacement does not include evictions for non-payment or cause or moving as the result of a divorce or separation.
• Paying More Than 50% Of Income For Rent
  •  To qualify for this preference, an applicant must have paid more than fifty percent (50%) of
     the household’s gross monthly income for rent and utilities for at least ninety (90) days.
  • “Rent” is the amount due on a monthly basis to the applicant’s current landlord under a
     Lease or rental agreement. An applicant does not qualify for this preference if the reason it is
     paying more than fifty percent (50%) of income for housing is because prior housing assistance
     was terminated for failure to comply with program requirements.
• Homeless Or Living In Substandard Housing

  • Homeless
    A homeless applicant is on who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence and has a primary nighttime residence that is: a supervised shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (this would include welfare hotels, congregate shelter and transitional housing); an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be deinstitutionalized; and/or, a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used for sleeping.
    
    It should be noted that a homeless applicant does not include and individual imprisoned or otherwise detained by law.

  • Living in Substandard Housing
    A dwelling unit is considered substandard if it: is dilapidated; does not have operable indoor plumbing; does not have useable flush toilet, bathtub or shower within the unit for the exclusive use of the applicant household (this does not apply to housing designed with shared facilities such as boarding houses); does not have electricity, or has inadequate of unsafe electrical service; does not have a safe or adequate source of heat; and/or, does not have a kitchen (these criteria does not apply to housing designed to share facilities). “Dilapidated “housing is housing which does not provide safe and adequate shelter and endangers the health, safety or well-being of the household.
    
    It should be noted that substandard housing does not include overcrowding.

For more information, visit the NHA website.

Applicants who need help completing the application due to disability can make a reasonable accommodation request to the housing authority via (781) 444-3011.