City staff and partner organizations briefed the Planning and Community Development Committee on a multi‑stakeholder effort to increase the rate at which housing vouchers are used, to shorten voucher lease‑up time and to reduce administrative friction for landlords and tenants.

The REACH steering group—convened by Close to Home and including both housing authorities (Opportunity Home and the Bexar County Housing Authority), property‑management representatives, HUD, nonprofit housing advocates and city staff—winnowed a larger set of ideas into nine prioritized recommendations. Two immediate changes have already been implemented: the multiple‑listing service (MLS) used by local realtors now requires property managers to indicate whether they accept vouchers, and Opportunity Home adjusted its payment process so it can issue payments by unit rather than sending commingled payments that complicated landlord accounting.

Other recommendations under development include: creation or expansion of landlord incentive funds and tenant‑readiness grants (including the city‑administered PLACE program and potential state grant opportunities), improved inspection turnaround and pre‑inspection options, a centralized database for unit availability and owner support, tenant advisory groups and improved communications to address landlord perceptions of voucher-holders. Steering‑committee members reported that inspection turnaround times have improved substantially in the past year and that the city will continue to refine tools that show units with real‑time availability.

Speakers representing veterans’ groups and housing advocates emphasized the disproportionate difficulty some veterans face in using vouchers and asked the city to pursue state legislation that would allow municipalities to adopt source‑of‑income protections for veterans. Staff and stakeholders said they are tracking several state bills, including a proposal to create a TDHCA tenant‑readiness and landlord‑incentive program (HB 714) and other bills that would change the municipal authority to adopt source‑of‑income protections. As an informational briefing, the committee did not take a vote and will continue quarterly meetings of the steering committee to track implementation and legislative opportunities.

(Reporting note: Quotations and attributions are drawn from the meeting transcript and from REACH steering‑committee participants.)