HELENA — The Montana Department of Commerce has launched a survey to better understand the need for affordable housing in Montana.

The survey aims to gather information on how inflation, limited supply of rental housing, increased demand, high labor costs and rising property insurance rates have drives up the cost of housing across the state.

Cheryl Cohen, administrator of the Montana Housing Division at the Montana Department of Commerce, says, “The goal of the survey is to collect more real-time market rent data across the state of Montana to to submit an exception request to the Department of Housing and Urban Development for their evaluation in the Montana Fair Market Rent Review. From our perspective, we believe their methodology, especially for rural and border areas, does not adequately represent what our rents actually are.

Earlier this year, due to a change in state funding allocations, the waitlist for Section 8 vouchers was closed.

The Montana Department of Commerce will use the survey results to find more appropriate rental subsidies for low-income households, particularly the elderly and disabled.

“We’re looking at households that are waiting for a federal aid voucher and about 57 percent are households that have at least one family member with a disability. So we’re talking about families that are on a fixed income or may have difficulty getting to to work.” Cohen said.

The survey results could potentially adjust the maximum amount of rent that can be paid to landlords on behalf of households benefiting from federal rental assistance programs and better define fair market rent.

Cohen defines: “This is about defining our voucher payment standards. Currently, we have set them at a maximum of 120 percent of the fair market rent, but for Lewis and Clark County, these rents can vary for the voucher payment standard between 1,000 and 1,000 percent. $1,200.

Montana renters will receive a letter in the mail this week with survey instructions and a code to get started. Responses are voluntary and confidential.