There’s no question that creating more affordable housing in Vermont is imperative. By some measures our state has one of the highest rates of individuals who are unhoused in the country, and affordable or moderate-priced housing is nearly impossible to find in many areas of the state. Since the start of the COVID pandemic, we have invested significant funding in housing supports and development, including rental assistance, the temporary emergency hotel program, renovation of rental housing, mobile home park improvements, affordable housing construction, missing middle housing, and various supportive housing programs.
This session we invested an additional $121 million in housing support and development, bringing the total amount allocated for a broad array of housing programs to over $1.0 billion since the start of the pandemic. In addition, to enhance and accelerate investments in housing development, we passed Act 47 the HOME Act (Housing Opportunities Made for Everyone), which makes regulatory changes intended to spur housing development and mitigate discriminatory or exclusionary housing policies throughout the state. Finally, we passed H.171 a companion housing bill that requires a more structured and supportive transition from emergency to permanent housing for many of the most vulnerable individuals in the general assistance emergency housing program. Below are some highlights of these investments and reforms, with links to additional information and resources to take advantage of this crucial legislation.
Major Housing Investments (see JFO summary for further details)
- Rental and Temporary Housing Assistance
- General Assistance Emergency Housing — provide funding, structure, and oversight of the emergency housing hotel program, extending conditional eligibility through April 1, 2024 for vulnerable participants, improved assistance with permanent housing placements, and enhanced emergency winter housing eligibility
- Housing Opportunity Program — grants for emergency shelter, essential services, transitional housing, re-housing, homeless prevention
- Family Supportive Housing — assistance to unhoused families with children to transition to and sustain stable housing
- Supportive Housing for Specific Populations
- Substance Use Recovery Housing – grants to provide supportive housing for individuals in substance use recovery, including specific funding for Jenna’s Promise recovery housing program
- Shared living support through HomeShare Vermont
- Justice Reinvestment Transitional Housing through Department of Corrections
- Long Term Care and Nursing Home reimbursement rate increases for seniors and individuals with disabilities, including many of the services and programs supported by the Department of Disabilities Aging and Independent Living
- Affordable Housing Development & Homeowner Assistance
- Vermont Housing & Conservation Board — support & enhance capacity for the production & preservation of affordable mixed-income rental housing & home-ownership units, including in manufactured home parks, through grants & loans for the acquisition, rehabilitation, and construction of affordable housing by nonprofit housing organizations
- Manufactured Home Improvement & Repair Program — create housing capacity & prevent vulnerable mobile home park residents from becoming homeless through assistance funding units in parks with available lots and repairing mobile homes & mobile home park infrastructure
- Vermont Housing Improvement Program (VHIP) — upgrade & expand rental housing capacity through grants to upgrade vacant rental housing to meet housing codes, add new units to existing rental properties, or create accessory dwelling units on owner-occupied property.
HOME Act Provisions (see ACCD HOME Act webpage for further details)
- Municipal Zoning Reform
- permits duplexes anywhere single-family homes are allowed and small multi-unit dwellings in areas served by sewer & water
- eases regulations for accessory dwelling units (ADUs)
- decreases requirements for parking spaces
- equalizes regulations of emergency shelters
- increases dwelling unit density
- limits local appeals and restrictive modifications of housing projects
- requires regional & municipal plans to strengthen elements related to housing
- designates funding to assist municipalities with municipal planning and bylaw modernization
- State Regulatory & Program Reform
- raises the Act 250 exemption threshold for housing units, for the next 3 years, from 10 to 25 and allows any size priority housing project in certain areas
- allows master plan permits for designated downtowns or neighborhood development areas
- caps certain Act 250 fees
- exempts work & upgrades to existing utility lines & corridors from Act 250 requirements until 2026
- requires various reports to evaluate impacts & recommend changes to Act 250 requirements
- increases the potential criminal penalty for fair housing & human rights violations from $1,000 to $10,000
- directs VT Legal Aid to create a pilot program for tenant representation in eviction cases
- creates a building energy code study committee & a mobile home park task force
- makes various changes to existing state housing programs
Ruth for Vermont 