Welcome to the Virgin Islands Housing Authority's Website
The V.I. Housing Authority has embarked upon many exciting and enriching programs for its' residents. This has been a priority with the objective being, first and foremost, to empower public housing residents through training and practical experience. Many of these initiatives are to provide incentives for residents to take more responsibility for the affairs in their respective communities and to participate in the management thereof.
The Virgin Islands Housing Authority (VIHA) is a public housing corporation that operates under the provisions of the U.S. Housing Act of 1937, as amended, the Quality Housing and Work Responsibility Act of 1998 and the Virgin Islands Code.
The birth of VIHA dates back as far as 1941 when the municipal councils of both St. Thomas/St. John and St. Croix passed an ordinance creating municipal housing authorities into a single agency, the Virgin Islands Housing and Redevelopment Authority (VIHRA), with tri-island jurisdiction. In 1962, Act No. 903 of the Virgin Islands Legislature established the agency as the Virgin Islands Housing Authority.
VIHA is empowered with the responsibility for planning, financing, constructing, maintaining and managing public housing developments on the islands of St.Croix and St.Thomas, which comprise approximately 15% of the total territorial housing stock.
The Government of the Virgin Islands is obligated to provide municipal services to public housing communities pursuant to the 1956 Cooperative Agreement, as amended, to incude but not limited to educational facilities, police and fire protection, garbage collection/disposal, maintenance of street lights, roads and provide water.