In the July 6 edition of the Federal Register, HUD announced the publication of the FY 26 Renewal Funding Inflation Factors (RFIFs) for the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. The Department has updated its RFIF page with agency-specific information.
HUD has continued with the same methodology—last updated in FY 25—to calculate changes in nationwide per unit costs (PUCs) and then apply these to specific Fair Market Rent (FMR) areas to determine the local RFIF. While the Department has calculated the nationwide PUC increase to be 2.337 percent, individual HAs will see their RFIFs vary from zero percent (no change) to 34.4 percent.
Overall, PHADA finds that 35 percent of FMR areas will see an increased RFIF compared to FY 25 and 54 percent will see a decreased RFIF. The remaining 11 percent will have the same RFIF in FY 26 as they did in FY 25.
The Federal Register publication also seeks comments on a possible change to the RFIF methodology for FY 27 that would see HUD incorporate “the extent to which [local] rent inflation… may be influenced by local land use policies, permitting practices, or other local regulatory or policy factors that impact new housing supply.” Members with input on this potential change may submit comments to Regulations.gov and should share any submitted comments with: policy@phada.org.