The Houston Housing Authority received 20,000 online applications in three hours on Aug. 20 for spots on a waiting list for housing subsidy vouchers. The agency opened the waiting list for the Section 8 voucher program for the first time in six years.

"As a record number of families struggle to make their rent in a city with a dire shortage of affordable homes, the applications have been pouring in," housing authority spokesman Mark Thiele said in a statement. The housing authority will conduct a computer-generated lottery on Sept. 3 to select names of about 20,000 people to add to the list. It expects as many as 75,000 applicants, who must meet federal income guidelines to qualify.