Rural housing programs will now count income and assets differently

The US Department of Agriculture is changing how it calculates income and assets for people living in federally subsidized rural housing. This means more people might qualify for housing assistance, or pay less for it, because less of their money will count as 'income'.

These changes bring rural housing rules in line with broader federal housing policy. For decades, different federal housing programs used different ways to count income, which made things complicated for both residents and administrators. Now, the rules are more consistent across programs, which should simplify things for people applying for help.