To-date, HUD has selected 100 agencies through the Moving to Work (MTW) Expansion. In January 2021, HUD selected the first 31 agencies through the MTW Flexibilities for Smaller PHAs Cohort of the MTW Expansion. Through this cohort, HUD will evaluate the overall impact of MTW flexibilities on PHAs with less than 1,000 units. In May 2021, HUD selected an additional 10 agencies to join the Stepped and Tiered Rent Cohort of the MTW Expansion. This cohort of the MTW Expansion will evaluate stepped and tiered rent policies. In January 2022, 28 agencies joined the Landlord Incentives Cohort. This cohort of the MTW Expansion will evaluate landlord incentives and their effect on landlord participation in the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. In September 2022, 17 agencies joined the Asset Building Cohort. This cohort of the MTW Expansion will evaluate policies that seek to encourage savings and/or improve credit for assisted households. In March 2024, HUD selected the final 14 agencies to join the MTW Flexibilities for Small PHAs II Cohort of the MTW Expansion. This cohort will be similar to the first, with a special emphasis on administrative flexibilities.

MTW is key in moving away from a “one-size-fits-all” approach to affordable housing and allowing communities to effectively address the distinct issues they face. The locally tailored policies adopted by current and future MTW agencies will be a part of solving the challenges faced by all PHAs, particularly through their ability to inform the Department about “what works” in housing.

HUD understands the importance of thinking outside the box, focusing on best practices and providing creative housing solutions for those serving the most vulnerable by allowing agencies to merge their funding streams and design creative policies. The most important lesson HUD has learned from MTW is that local agencies and their stakeholders are in the best position to assess the needs and challenges of their communities and rental markets. It is important that local leaders have the flexibility to utilize and leverage their strengths, resources and partnerships in a way that best serves their communities.

The key principles for the expansion are to: simplify, learn, and apply. The vision for the MTW expansion is to learn from MTW interventions in order to improve the delivery of federally assisted housing and promote self-sufficiency for low-income families across the nation. In order to do this, HUD has developed a program delivery model that simplifies and streamlines HUD oversight and provides flexibility to high-performing PHAs in the delivery of housing services.

If you are interested in learning more about the MTW Demonstration Program, please visit the HUD MTW website.

MTW Expansion – Cohorts

Eligible PHAs interested in joining the MTW Demonstration Program can find everything they need to know by going to the webpages dedicated to each of the Expansion Cohorts listed below. These pages include applicable notices, webinars, and more.

• MTW Flexibility for Smaller PHAs Cohort

In October 2018, PHAs were invited to submit letters of interest for this cohort, which will evaluate the overall impact of MTW flexibilities on PHAs will less than 1,000 units. On August 28, 2020, HUD invited 33 of the PHAs that submitted letters of interest to submit full applications, after going through a robust public process. These eligible PHAs were selected through a geographic-based lottery. On January 7, 2021, HUD announced 31 selectees which were then formally designated as MTW agencies after full execution of the MTW Amendment to the Annual Contributions Contract (MTW ACC Amendment). After being designated, one PHA then voluntarily decided to rescind their MTW designation. There are currently 30 PHAs actively participating in this cohort.

• Stepped and Tiered Rent Cohort

In March 2019, PHAs were invited to submit letters of interest for this cohort, which will study stepped and tiered rent alternatives. On August 28, 2020, HUD published PIH Notice 2020-21 which invited 36 eligible PHAs that submitted letters of interest to work with their residents and communities to submit full applications by January 8, 2021. These applications were competitively reviewed, and in May 2021 HUD announced that 10 PHAs were selected.

• Landlord Incentives Cohort

In January 2021, HUD published PIH Notice 2021-03 to invite PHAs to submit applications for this cohort, which will evaluate landlord incentives and their effect on landlord participation in the HCV program. PHAs in this cohort of the MTW Expansion must implement at least two MTW landlord incentive activities from a provided list of MTW landlord incentive activities. In January of 2022, HUD announced the 29 PHAs that were selected through this cohort.

• Asset Building Cohort

In April of 2022, HUD published PIH Notice 2022-11 seeking applications for the Asset Building Cohort of the MTW Expansion. This cohort will test asset building initiatives, which for this cohort are defined as activities that encourage the growth of savings accounts and/or aim to build credit for assisted households. In September of 2022, HUD announced the 18 PHAs that were selected through this cohort.

• (Updated) MTW Flexibility for Smaller PHAs II Cohort 

  In July of 2023, HUD published PIH Notice 2023-20 seeking applications for the MTW Flexibility for Smaller PHAs II Cohort of the MTW Expansion. This cohort will test the overall effects of MTW flexibility on a PHA and the residents it serves, with a particular focus on administrative efficiencies. In March of 2024, HUD announced the 14 PHAs that were selected through this cohort.

• MTW Work Requirements Cohort (Rescinded)

HUD is committed to implementing the MTW Expansion in a way that is responsive to the economic realities and current needs of low-income families. To that end, the Department has rescinded the selection notice seeking applications for the Work Requirements Cohort of the MTW Expansion (PIH Notice 2021-02).

MTW Operations Notice

The Operations Notice for the Expansion of the Moving to Work Demonstration Program (MTW Operations Notice) establishes requirements for the implementation and continued operation of the MTW Demonstration Program pursuant to the 2016 MTW Expansion Statute. The official version of the MTW Operations Notice is found in the Federal Register, Docket No. FR 5994-N-05, and can be accessed here. For ease of review, HUD has reformatted the official version of the MTW Operations Notice from the Federal Register into two files, Sections I-V and Section VI.

A companion piece to the MTW Operations Notice is the MTW Expansion On-line Manual and interactive training which describes concepts such as MTW funding flexibilities, waivers and more, plus a “How To” get started as an MTW agency.

You can view the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for the MTW Operations Notice here. These FAQs should assist agencies with questions they may have about the MTW Operations Notice.

MTW Amendment to the Annual Contributions Contract

The MTW Amendment to the Annual Contributions Contract (ACC) has been amended for the PHA’s designation as an MTW agency. The amendment sets the term of participation, details the requirements and covenants for a PHA to follow in the MTW Operations Notice and the PHA's respective Selection Notice, which will detail cohort study obligations; and outlines the possibility of a transition out of the demonstration. The amendment also contains HUD’s recourse provisions in the case of a PHA’s default.

MTW Supplement to the Annual PHA Plan – for MTW Expansion PHAs

The MTW Supplement to the Annual PHA Plan describes the reporting requirements for MTW Expansion PHAs and will be submitted once per year as part of the standard PHA Plan process. MTW Expansion PHAs will indicate the MTW activities they intend to implement from the list of MTW Waivers provided in the MTW Operations Notice. In response to stakeholder feedback, HUD has attempted to simplify and streamline the reporting process, eliminate the standard metrics, and provide the same level of flexibilities through the MTW Waivers, Agency-Specific Waivers, and Safe Harbor Waivers.

The MTW Supplement to the Annual PHA Plan will be submitted by MTW Expansion agencies using a web-based form, not using Word or PDF files as is the case for other documents in the PHA Plan. Additional information about the MTW Supplement form and MTW Supplement system can be found on the MTW Supplement web page.

HUD-50058 MTW Expansion

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the HUD-50058 MTW Expansion. The HUD-50058 MTW Expansion will be used by MTW Expansion PHAs to submit tenant-level data to HUD in the new IMS/PIC Modernization system, since certain MTW flexibilities preclude MTW PHAs from being able to submit tenant-level data on the HUD-50058. This new form is a derivative of the HUD-50058 and HUD-50058 MTW. The HUD-50058 MTW Expansion form was developed so that HUD will be able to collect the information that will be needed to evaluate each of the MTW expansion PHAs and cohorts, as required by Congress.

2016 Consolidated Appropriations Act

In Section 239 of the 2016 Appropriations Act, Congress authorized HUD to expand the MTW Demonstration Program by 100 additional agencies over seven years. Each cohort will experiment with a specific policy change, which HUD determined based on the advice of the Research Advisory Committee. This Committee consists of MTW agencies and residents, expert researchers, and HUD staff. HUD will evaluate and learn from these MTW expansion agencies to identify successful MTW innovations to improve the future delivery of federally assisted low-income and affordable housing.

Selection Requirements Required by Statute

Of the 100 PHAs selected under the expanded MTW demonstration:

• No less than 50 PHAs shall administer 1,000 or fewer aggregate voucher and public housing units;
• No less than 47 PHAs shall administer 1,001-6,000 aggregate voucher and public housing units;
• No more than 3 PHAs shall administer 6,001-27,000 aggregate voucher and public housing units;
• No PHA shall be granted this designation if it administers in excess of 27,000 aggregate voucher and public housing units;
• Five of the PHAs selected shall be agencies with a Rental Assistance Demonstration (RAD) portfolio award that converts a PHA’s entire public housing inventory to RAD

One or more adjacent PHAs may be designated as a regional MTW PHA, and HUD is determining the parameters for a regional MTW PHA designation.