Concord Housing and Redevelopment is reopening its waitlist for public housing vouchers for two-bedroom units. Once it receives 50 applicants, the list will close again.

The waitlist has been on a start-stop basis for two years as a slim rental market has made availability scarce.

For applicants who receive a voucher, putting it to use in New Hampshire can also be a challenge as landlords are not legally required to accept them.

In March, Concord Housing closed its application again, anticipating that it would be a year before it started taking new names again. However, households with two to four members can now apply for a two-bedroom unit temporarily.

To qualify for a two-bedroom voucher, applicants must have two to four people in their household or a verified reasonable accommodation and make less than 50 percent of the area median income.

In Merrimack County, for a family of four, that is an annual income of $57,550.

A criminal background check is also required.

Julie Palmeri, the executive director of Concord Housing and Redevelopment which manages the voucher waitlist in the city, has shared similar sentiments about the state of affordable rental housing over the last two years.

The open waitlist, which can span six to eight years, according to New Hampshire Housing, with little movement, was misleading to clients.

“Applicants are frustrated with the wait time and feel they are being given false hope of being housed in our portfolio,” said Palmeri in a statement to the Monitor in March.

The root cause of the problem, again, goes back to a lack of available and affordable housing in Concord, she said.

Interested applicants for the two-bedroom waitlist should visit Concord Housing and Redevelopment at 23 Green St. or call 603-224-4059 for an application.

Concord Housing will also sponsor free swim lessons with the city’s parks and recreation department for the summer. Kids will be eligible for eight free swim lessons as space allows and required to register in person at the City-Wide Community Center on Canterbury Road with proof of residency, like a utility bill or driver's license. Registration begins on Tuesday, June 4 at 9 a.m.