A new program from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development will start putting up 1,650 rental dwellings for handicapped people.

To qualify for one of these units, one must be 18 years or older, have a significant disability and have an annual income that doesn't exceed 50% of the median income of those living in that immediate area.

"This comes under HUD's annual program, Supportive Housing for Persons with Disabilities or what we here call Section 811, as that's the section where the units fall under," said HUD spokesman Victor Lambert in Washington, D.C. "The buildings will be going up in 47 states which are participating in this, and we estimate it will affect about 2,200 people with disabilities nationwide in terms of new housing."

The units will be one of two types, either an apartment, which will be part of a larger independent-living-type facility made up to house a total of about 18 people, or a group-home setting, which will house from three to six people with disabilities. The group home situation may or may not have a house manager.

The cost of renting these units will be an estimated 30% of that individual's adjusted annual income level.