State Department: Standards for Overseas Housing Need Review [Reissued with revisions on Oct. 21, 2026]

What GAO Found The Department of State last updated its standards for overseas housing space in 1991, according to State officials. Those standards may no longer align with State’s goal of providing Foreign Service personnel living abroad with housing comparable to the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area. In the last 35 years, median housing costs in the Washington, D.C., area have increased at a faster rate than Foreign Service personnel salaries. In addition, State’s method for measuring overseas housing does not align with the domestic industry standards typically followed by housing appraisers in the U.S., which may prevent State from comparing its overseas housing to housing in the Washington D.C. area. Without reviewing and updating, as applicable, its overseas housing policy, State may be paying for larger residential units than necessary for its Foreign Service personnel. State’s posts largely adhered to overseas housing cost and space standards, with 87 percent and 81 percent of units meeting those standards, respectively. Posts must request waivers to exceed these standards. Rental cost waivers resulted in overages of under 2 percent of annual lease costs in 2025, repr...