13,000 people will be randomly selected for Baltimore City’s public housing waitlist after the application period closes tonight.

The application window opened on August 1st and closes at 11:59 Monday, August 14th.

Demand is high. The Housing Authority of Baltimore City manages the city’s public housing stock; Ingrid Antonio, HABC senior vice-president, reported that more than 26,000 people had applied for the waitlist as of Monday morning.

“There is an affordable housing shortage across the country so these numbers do not surprise us,” Antonio wrote in an emailed statement to WYPR.

Most who apply will not make it onto the waitlist but according to HABC, maintaining a waitlist helps the authority keep a manageable contact list so that they can notify applicants who reach the top of the list.

Demand has long been high. The HABC waitlist closed in 2019 due to a backlog of cases averaging over five-years and until this August hadn’t been re-opened. Officials have said that since the list was last opened, many people on the list have moved from the city, found housing or have outdated contact information.

According to the HABC’s website, they manage 5,952 public housing units.

“When there is a need the waitlist will reopen again,” wrote Antonio. There will be a separate waitlist opening later this year for Section 8 housing managed by HABC.