L.A. a.k.a. the City of Angels and home to Hollywood, the heart of the motion picture industry. If your passions involve the arts, the Creative Capital of the World that is L.A. is definitely the place for you. One in every six of the city s residents works in the creative industry.

Los Angeles is the most populous city in the US, after NYC, and is recognized as the most diverse of the nation s largest cities. This vibrant city is home to people from more than 140 countries speaking 224 different identified languages. It is divided into over 80 districts and neighborhoods.

The affordable housing opportunities in LA are diverse however limited. Meaning there s lots of housing programs that can help you find an affordable apartment but as is often the case, there are not enough resources to serve everyone in need.

There are several public and private agencies and organizations that provide everything from rental assistance that will subsidize your rent to cheap apartments available for low income families, seniors and disabled persons.

Perhaps the largest and most notable of these is the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA). HACLA is one of the Nation s oldest housing authorities that serves lower income families today with its annual budget of $1 billion.

HACLA is the largest single provider of affordable housing in the city with a portfolio of public housing apartments that includes more than 6,500 units. These cheap apartments are contained in 18 different apartment communities, each containing between 100 and more than 1,000 units. To qualify for these apartments, your income must meet certain requirements. Click on the links to learn if you qualify and apply .

HACLA also administers the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. As of 2013, HACLA provided 47,952 Section 8 vouchers to low income renters throughout Los Angeles. The HCV is a popular program, across the country, frequently having waiting lists that are years long. As of September 2013, the Section 8 waiting list in Los Angeles had 18,767 families on it and was not open to new applicants.

Though HACLA is the largest single provider of affordable housing resources in Los Angeles, it does not provide the majority of affordable apartments in the city. Plenty of private landlords and nonprofit and for profit housing developers own and manage thousands of affordable apartment units throughout the city. The number of project-based Section 8 units in the city, about 18,750, is a little less than half the number of Section 8 vouchers managed by HACLA.

Nearly 25,000 apartment units in Los Angeles are currently made affordable by the Low Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program, the Nation s most successful housing program. These affordable apartments are contained within around 400 apartment communities dispersed throughout LA that contain anywhere from just a couple of apartments to large communities containing several hundred apartment homes.

Among the more active apartment developers/owners is Retirement Housing Foundation. Founded in 1961 by a couple of clergymen, it is now one of the Nation s largest providers of affordable housing. RHF owns and manages more than 2,000 apartments in Los Angeles alone. These apartment communities provide affordable living opportunities for both seniors and families. One of the communities RHF provides to L.A. residents is the Rio Vista Village family community that includes 75 apartments. This community offers two, three, and four bedroom units in a quiet area of Los Angeles. It s a few minutes away from downtown L.A. near freeway access and public transportation. The building amenities include gated parking and an entry access system, a BBQ area, and an on-site laundry room.

Another less talked about affordability feature is the City s Rent Stabilization Ordinance (RSO). For long term tenants, any property or building built before 1978 that contains two or more units may not increase rents more than once every 12 months and the rent increases may not exceed the Consumer Price Index (CPI). This insures that sudden housing market costs increases don t shut existing tenants out of neighborhoods they have called home for years.

With these housing opportunities in mind, if you look hard enough you re sure to find suitable housing in Los Angeles that fits your budget.