Prince George’s County is opening its public housing lottery. Here’s what you need to know.

Starting next week, Prince George’s County residents can apply for a spot on the county’s public housing waitlist, which has been closed to new applicants for more than a decade. The application window opens Monday, Oct. 26, and will close Friday, Oct. 30.

The Housing Authority of Prince George’s County will randomly select 4,000 applicants from the submissions it receives during that period. Applicants selected through the lottery will be put on the waitlist; they are not guaranteed an apartment.

Applications must be submitted online, according to the housing authority. There is no fee to apply, and the authority will not accept paper applications. But housing authority employees will be offering in-person assistance from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 26 and Oct. 29 at the Prince George’s Sports & Learning Complex in Landover.

Staci Tyler, the housing authority’s public information officer, said applicants will be notified by mail and email if they’ve been selected through the lottery system to be added to the waitlist.

“Public Housing has only 376 units, and applicants should be prepared for a wait of several years before housing may become available,” Tyler said in an email to The Banner. “Units typically become available only when a current resident moves out or passes away.”

The lottery will include 1,500 waitlist spots for studio apartments, 1,700 for one-bedroom units, 400 for two-bedroom units, 300 for three-bedroom units and 100 for four-bedroom units.

The public housing program provides rental housing at properties owned and managed by the county housing authority. Eligible households will pay about 30% of their adjusted monthly income in rent, according to the housing authority’s website.

Demand for public housing and voucher programs outpaces the supply. A May 2025 report from the county’s Department of Housing and Community Development found that the county lacks enough public housing and Housing Choice vouchers to meet residents’ needs. The housing authority had 3,505 applicants on its public housing waitlist and 775 applicants waiting for housing vouchers, according to the report.

That same report says 34% of applicants on the public housing waitlist are registered as disabled households. There are 1,464 people waiting for studio apartments, more than any other bedroom size.

The last time the authority opened its public housing waitlist, in May 2016, it selected 4,613 applicants for placement on the list.

In December, the housing authority reopened its separate waitlist for housing vouchers for the first time in a decade. More than 47,000 people applied for 5,000 lottery spots.

Unlike public housing, which is tied to properties owned and managed by the authority, the voucher program helps eligible renters pay for housing in the private market.

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