Fairfax County will open its affordable housing voucher waitlist Monday, Oct. 5, giving residents one week to apply for subsidized rental units.

The Fairfax County Redevelopment and Housing Authority (FCRHA) will accept pre-applications for its Project-Based Voucher (PBV) program from 8 a.m. Monday, Oct. 5, through 11:59 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11, according to the county's housing waitlist page. Two new properties are joining the portfolio: Telestar Court in Falls Church and The Exchange at Spring Hill Station in Vienna. The county's other housing waitlists, including the Housing Choice Voucher program, remain closed.

Both properties are under construction.

Telestar Court, near the Mosaic District, is converting a vacant four-story office building into 80 affordable one- and two-bedroom apartments. The $51 million project is the first office-to-residential affordable housing conversion in Fairfax County, according to a county submission to the Virginia Association of Counties.

The FCRHA acquired the building in 2023 using $8.1 million in American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. Units will serve households earning 30 to 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI), and a 99-year ground lease locks in affordability.

The Exchange at Spring Hill Station, near the Spring Hill Metro in Tysons Corner, will add 516 affordable homes for families. The development, a partnership between the FCRHA and True Ground Housing Partners, replaces a former parking lot and will include a 33,000-square-foot community center, according to the FCRHA's property page. The FCRHA previously opened a PBV waitlist for The Exchange from June 1–7.

Under the PBV program, households pay up to 35 percent of their adjusted gross income toward rent. The FCRHA covers the rest. Applicants are selected at random from the waitlist, then screened based on income, household size and unit availability, the FCRHA said in its announcement.

Getting on this waitlist does not lock applicants into Telestar Court or The Exchange. Those selected may also be placed at other PBV properties across the county, depending on openings and eligibility.

When FCRHA Chair Lenore Stanton announced Telestar Court's financial closing in May 2025, she called the project the authority's "initial foray into converting office space into affordable housing" and said staff had worked through "very intensive analysis" to preserve long-term affordability.

Among Fairfax County renters earning less than $75,000 a year, 87 percent are cost-burdened, spending at least 30 percent of their income on rent and utilities, according to the county submission. Of that group, 52 percent spend more than half their income on housing.

In Reston, median rents reached about $2,253 for a one-bedroom and $2,385 for a two-bedroom in August 2026, Patch reported. The county has set a goal of adding 10,000 net new affordable homes by 2034.

Applications are submitted online through RentCafé on the Fairfax County Housing and Community Development website. Instructions are available in English, Spanish and Korean. Residents who need help can call 703-449-9050 or visit the FCRHA office at 3700 Pender Drive in Fairfax, open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.