Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has announced a proposal to raise rents for low-income Americans relying on federal housing subsidies.

Currently, families and individuals living in subsidized housing are traditionally asked to spend 30% of their adjusted income on rent, with a cap on rent for the program's lowest earners at $50 per month. According to the Washington Post, Carson's new initiative would raise the standard for tenants to 35% of their gross incomes, with the cap on rent for the poorest families rising to $150 a month.

Though the 30-percent rule for measuring affordability has long been accepted as the standard rule of thumb, for families at lower income brackets, even this percentage is way too high when factoring in other necessary expenses as well as the need to save for emergencies. Increasing this by 5% would put further strain on millions of households already burdened by our current system, and would likely force many into homelessness.

In addition, the HUD wants to eliminate deductions for medical and child-care costs when determining rent for families. It also would expand work initiatives to require adult recipients under the age of 60 to work either part-time or enroll in a state-run training program.

If Congress were to approve the plan—which, with only six months remaining before midterm elections, is unlikely—half of the 4.7 million families receiving benefits would be affected by the changes, and roughly 712,000 households would see their rents triple from $50 to $150 per month.

Carson's announcement comes amidst ambitious efforts by the Trump administration to shrink federal assistance programs that many Americans deeply depend on. 

Earlier this month, the president signed an executive order directing federal agencies to issue recommendations on expanding work requirements for low-income Americans receiving Medicaid, food stamps, public housing benefits and welfare. House Republicans have already included this in their 2018 Farm Bill, which tightens work requirements for those receiving food stamps.