Housing secretary: Proposed stricter public housing regulations are optional.

Housing Secretary Luis Augusto Martínez

By THE STAR STAFF

The island’s housing secretary said this week that proposed federal rules requiring residents of public housing to work 40 hours a week will not put public housing benefits in Puerto Rico at risk.

In a radio interview, the new housing secretary, Luis Augusto Martínez, said the proposed federal housing rules are currently optional for Puerto Rico. He also said he does not expect any further changes that would affect Section 8 or other public housing assistance on the island.

Augusto Martínez said the government has not made any official statements about the proposed new federal rules, and that everything is running as usual.

“I went to Washington, D.C., to meet with HUD [the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development] and share our concerns about these federal proposals and what they might mean,” he said. “But right now, these federal measures are optional for Puerto Rico.”

Augusto Martínez stressed that Puerto Rico’s policy is to protect public housing and its residents, and to keep the right to apply only those rules that support that goal.

In May 2026, HUD proposed new rules that would let public housing authorities require adults ages 18 to 61 to work 40 hours a week and limit their assistance to as little as two years. The changes are meant to shorten waiting lists, but they could cause millions to lose housing help.

Under the proposed rules, after the two years on assistance residents might lose their subsidy or have to reapply. While older adults and people with disabilities are usually exempt, critics say that complicated paperwork could still cause them to lose benefits. The proposed rules also give local housing authorities and private owners more power to enforce the stricter policies, and some conservative states could require mandatory work reporting.

If the rules are widely used, as many as 3.7 million people, including 1.9 million children, could lose housing assistance. The public comment period for the proposals ended earlier this month, and published reports say more than 1,000 comments were submitted.