Apartment buildings are seen at the Stoddard Johnston Scholar House, Friday, July 11, 2025, in Louisville, Ky. Jon Cherry/AP hide caption

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Jon Cherry/AP

A proposed rule by the Department of Housing and Urban Development would allow strict time limits and work requirements as a condition for rental subsidies, a move that critics say could put millions of people at risk of losing such aid amid record-high housing costs and homelessness.

The decision to impose new restrictions would be up to local housing authorities and private property owners who rent to people using a housing voucher, known as Section 8. Time limits could be as short as two years, and work requirements up to 40 hours a week. Those who are elderly or disabled – a majority of people with federal rental subsidies – would be exempt.

President Trump proposed a two-year limit in his White House budget last year , along with slashing rental aid by 40%, but Congress rejected that.…