Occupancy standards for admission and continued participation in the program shall be established in this section to avoid overcrowding, wasted space, and unnecessary Tenant Assistance Payments. All dwelling units assisted under the Tenant Assistance Program shall adhere to the standards in this section and the Housing Code, subtitle A of this title.
Tenants shall be issued Certificates of Eligibility for dwelling units which consist of the number of rooms necessary to provide decent, safe, and sanitary accommodations without overcrowding or wasting space. The following unit size standards shall apply at admission and for continued assistance:
Unit Size | Minimum | Maximum |
(bedroom) | No. of Persons | No. of Persons |
in Unit | in Unit | |
0 | 1 | 1 |
1 | 1 | 2 |
2 | 2 | 4 |
3 | 3 | 6 |
4 | 4 | 8 |
5 | 6 | 10 |
6 | 8 | 12 |
Generally, occupancy standards shall be applied in a manner which will require two (2) persons to occupy a bedroom, except as restricted by §§ 1813.4 and 1813.6.
A single-person household shall be issued a 0-bedroom unit Certificate when DCHA determines that 0-bedroom units are available. When 0-bedroom units are determined not to be available, a single-person household shall be assigned a one (1)-bedroom unit. Elderly single-person households shall be given priority over other applicants for one (1)-bedroom Certificates when no 0-bedroom units are available.
An elderly, handicapped, or disabled single person who plans to live with an unrelated person determined by DCHA to be essential to his or her care shall be assigned a two (2)-bedroom unit.
Normally, the number of bedrooms assigned shall not require persons of the opposite sex, except husband and wife or children under six (6) years of age, to occupy the same bedroom. With the permission of the applicant, and because of a shortage of appropriate size units in a location desired by that applicant, DCHA may allow children of the opposite sex between the ages of seven (7) and eleven (11) to occupy the same bedroom, in order to reduce the number of bedrooms required.
Every member of the family, regardless of age, shall be considered a person when applying the occupancy standards for admission and continued occupancy.
A dwelling unit assisted under this program shall be the sole residence of the tenant and the tenant's family as represented in the application for assistance. The tenant shall not sublease, assign, or transfer a unit assisted under this program.
D.C. Mun. Regs. tit. 14, r. 14-1813