Jun. 18--Proposed changes to federal fair market rent standards could send rent prices down for subsidized units in New Haven and some surrounding towns, while communities along the Shoreline and in Naugatuck Valley could see prices rise.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has released its fair market rent projections for fiscal 2009 year, which starts Oct. 1. The agency is accepting public comments on the proposed changes through Aug. 1.

Through its Housing Choice Voucher Program, commonly referred to as the Section 8 program, HUD covers rent -- with utilities included -- for privately owned apartment units. Some property owners who rent out single-family houses also accept HUD vouchers.

Subsidized public housing units are owned by housing authorities, not private landlords.

New Haven County is one of 368 counties across the country that might see prior boosts to fair market rents reverse moderately, partly because of successful efforts to geographically deconcentrate the areas where housing voucher holders live, according to the National Low-Income Housing Coalition, a Washington, D.C., organization that advocates for affordable housing.

Jeffrey Freiser, executive director of the coalition's affiliate, the Connecticut Housing Coalition, said that as rents continue to rise in the private market, families with vouchers that decline in fiscal 2009 could have a tougher time finding apartments.

"Someone with a Section 8 voucher is limited by the FMR (fair market rent) in the units they can secure," Freiser said. "A lower FMR means there are fewer apartments available to you."

The fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment in New Haven would go down from $1,142 per month, with utilities included, to $1,101 per month under HUD's projections.

That would also apply to rental units in 14 surrounding towns.

"Costs keep rising, so it's not good news," said Douglas Losty, president of the Greater New Haven Property Owners Association.

L a n d l o r d s , h e s a i d , a r e f a c i n g r i s -- ing insurance a n d u t i l i t y costs and tax increases.

B u t h e a d -- ing east along the Shoreline, rents would r i s e . I n C l i n t o n , K i l l i n g -- w o r t h , O l d Saybrook and Westbrook, the fair market rent for a two-bedroom apartment would increase from $1,064 per month to $1,104 per month.

In the Naugatuck Valley towns of Ansonia and Seymour, and in the city of Milford, a twobedroom unit would jump from $1,075 per month to $1,113 per month.

Kristine Foye, spokeswoman at HUD's New England regional office, said rent projections are based on the U.S. Census Bureau American Housing Survey, and r a n d o m t e l e -- phone surveys of renters in the FMR statistical areas.

"The rents are based on households who have moved into their units in the past 15 months," she said. The fair market rent rates also apply to HUD's Rehabilitation Single Room Occupancy Program, which provides rental assistance for homeless people.

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