Update: Click here for the final Federal Register Notice published on February 4, 2026. For HUD’s Office of Multifamily Housing Bulletin on this subject, click here.

 

CARH’S BROADCAST E-MAIL – Regulatory Update

February 2, 2026

On February 3, 2026, the Department of Housing & Urban Development will publish a Federal Register Notice that establishes operating cost adjustment factors (OCAFs) for project-based assistance contracts issued under Section 8 of the United States Housing Act of 1937 and renewed under the Multifamily Assisted Housing Reform and Affordability Act of 1997 (MAHRA) for eligible multifamily housing projects having an anniversary date on or after February 11, 2026. OCAFs are annual factors used to adjust Section 8 rents renewed under Section 515 or Section 524 of MAHRA. Additionally, OCAFs are part of an allowable method of rent adjustment for project-based voucher contracts pursuant to the provision at Section 8(o)(13)(I) of the United States Housing Act of 1937 that was implemented June 6, 2024.

The notice also solicits comments on the methodology and data sources used to determine OCAFs. Specifically, “OCAFs are composite factors calculated as the sum of weighted changes across nine operating cost categories: electricity, employee benefits, employee wages, fuel oil, goods/supplies/equipment, insurance, natural gas, property taxes, and water/sewer/trash. The weights used in the OCAF calculations for each of the nine cost component groupings are set using current percentages attributable to each of the nine expense categories. HUD calculates weights using three years of audited Annual Financial Statements from projects covered by OCAFs.” HUD will not revise the FY 2026 OCAFs in response to public comments but will take public input into consideration when developing the FY 2027 OCAFs.

Please contact the CARH national office at carh@carh.org or 703-837-9001 should you have questions or concerns. For other news and information affecting the affordable rural housing industry, please visit the Newsroom on CARH’s website, www.carh.org.