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Shelter Plus Care Policy Guide: Calculating the Grant Amount

Once applicants have developed their program plan and identified structures to be used in the program, they will be able to calculate the amount of S+C funds to request. The S+C grant is an amount reserved for rental assistance over the life of the grant (five years for the TRA and SRA components, ten years for the SRO component, and either five or ten years for the PRA component, depending on whether or not the units will be rehabilitated.)

The size of the grant is calculated by multiplying the number of units proposed times the appropriate fair market rent (FMR) times the length of the grant period. An applicant's request for a S+C grant is an estimate of the amount needed for rental assistance. Grantees will make draws from the reserved amount to pay the actual costs of rental assistance for program participants.

The following is an excerpt from a published schedule of section 8 fair market rents (FMRs): (The term efficiency (EFF) is interchangeable with zero-bedroom (0 BR).)

Note: The FMRs for unit sizes larger than 4 BRs are calculated by adding 15% to the 4BR FMR for each extra bedroom. For example, the FMR for a 5BR unit is 1.15 times the 4BR FMR, and the FMR for a 6BR unit is 1.30 times the 4BR FMR.

To estimate the amount of the request, applicants first decide on the number and type of housing units to use in their program. Then, they multiply by the FMR in effect at the time of application and multiply by the length of the grant period. Exception rents (somewhat higher than FMR) are in effect in some areas and may be used for determining the grant amount. Contact your PHA or local HUD Field Office.

For the SRO component, applicants determine the number of SRO units to be used and multiply by the FMR in effect which is (75% of the 0-bedroom FMR x 1.2). (short cut: multiply the 0-bedroom FMR by .9). Applicants then multiply by 120 months, the length of the grant period for the SRO component. For example, the efficiency FMR for Bellingham, WA is $411. To calculate the grant request for a 20 unit SRO project, you would mulitply $411 x .75 x 1.2 which equals $370. You would then multiply $370 x 20 units x 120 months for the total grant request which equals $888,000.

For all other components, applicants determine the number of the various types of units to be used (e.g., 10 one-bedroom units, 5 four-bedroom units) and multiply by the FMR in effect for those units. Finally, applicants multiply by the applicable number of months, either 60 or 120, depending on the length of the grant period. For example, if an applicant requested rental assistance for 10 one-bedroom units in the Seattle area, for SRA, PRA, and TRA, you would multiply 10 x $541 x 60 to determine the requested grant amount. In the case of PRAW, you would multiply 10 x $541 x 120 to determine the requested grant amount.

For group homes, use the FMR applicable to the unit size being leased; e.g., use the FMR for a four-bedroom unit where a residence contains four bedrooms. For Olympia, Washington area the four-bedroom FMR is $797. If the applicant is proposing to provide assistance one four-bedroom group home, for SRA, TRA and PRA, you would multiply 1 x 797 x 60 to determine the requested grant amount or for PRAW you would calculate 1 x 797 x 120 to determine the requested grant amount. For the SRO component you calculate 1 x (.75 x 1.2) x $797 x 120 $797 or 1 x .9 x $797 x 120 to determine the requested grant amount. Once the grant is awarded, grantees must serve at least as many participants as shown in their application. Where contract rents are appreciably lower than FMRs and where participants are able to pay a portion of the rent, grantees may be able to serve a greater number or they can use the difference to fund the costs of administering the rental assistance (up to 8 percent), to pay security deposits, to pay damages, or to allow for higher rents in future years.

Applicants may apply for assistance under any or all of the four components.