Housing Matters blog

Gossen Bachman Architects, the designers of Union Square, containing 58 affordable and market rate rental apartments in Windsor, Vermont, have been awarded a John M. Clancy Award for Socially Responsible Housing from the Boston Society of Architects for its recent renovation. 

The award recognizes excellence in the planning, design, construction and maintenance of socially responsible housing. The award’s jury noted that Union Square’s entire neighborhood is revitalized by the historic buildings’ renovation. 

Project funding sources include VHFA, federal and state housing and historic tax credits, HUD, HOME, USDA Rural Development, the VT Community Development Program, energy efficiency funding, Neighborworks, federal Section 1602 housing credit exchange funds, the Federal Home Loan Bank and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board.  The project was developed by Housing Vermont and the Rockingham Area Land Trust (now the Windham and Windsor Housing Trust) and is managed by Stewart Property Management.

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Following up the State of the Union address, the Obama administration released details of a plan to help borrowers and support the housing market’s recovery.  

Read the housing plan. 

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Angus Chaney is joining the office of Agency of Human Services Secretary Doug Racine to focus on an integrated approach to housing and homelessness. In his new role, Angus will focus on the development and implementation of a statewide agenda to address the issues of homelessness, the development of housing retention programs and an integrated approach to the state’s housing needs.   

Angus comes to the AHS Secretary’s Office from the Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity (in the Department for Children and Families) where he administered the federal Community Services Block Grant (HHS); Emergency Shelter Grants program (HUD); Economic Development Initiative grants (HUD); Emergency Food and Shelter Program funding (FEMA); and state Homeless Shelter and Services funding. He is the current chair of the Vermont Council on Homelessness, the State Committee for the Emergency Food & Shelter Program and was appointed to the Governor’s Community Development board in 2011. He participates in various other coalitions and taskforces, all working to address the long term impacts of poverty.

Secretary Racine stated, “Stable housing is a cornerstone for the work of the Agency, I am extremely pleased to have Angus join us to focus on this issue. I believe that his passion, experience and vision will be instrumental in moving a coordinated, integrated effort forward across the state.” For his part, Angus is thrilled about the opportunity to work on housing policy for the Agency, and immensely grateful for the time he has had working with friends and colleagues at OEO, DCF, and Vermont’s Community Action and shelter network. On a personal note, he lives with his wife and their twin 10-year-old daughters in Brandon and enjoys playing music, kayaking, soccer, and hiking in any weather. 

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Today VHFA submitted comments to the South Burlington City Council in response to their consideration of a proposed Interim Zoning ordinance. VHFA is opposed to the proposed ordinance for several reasons:

• VHFA’s mission “is to finance and promote affordable, safe and decent housing opportunities for low- and moderate-income Vermonters” and suspending housing development and rehabilitation will negatively impact the Vermonters we’re charged to serve;
• This may potentially harm the underlying value of existing real estate in South Burlington. Having a healthy real estate market serves to protect VHFA’s investment of mortgage loans on multifamily and single family homes in South Burlington;
• VHFA surveyed Chittenden County employers last summer and the results showed that housing affordability and availability are still major concerns. Stopping future development runs the risk of worsening this problem; and
• There is no evidence that the growth enjoyed by South Burlington has been out of control, unchecked, unsustainable or in any way a detriment to the city or its residents. In fact, communities typically enjoy smart growth that expands and diversifies its tax base through residential and commercial expansion.

Read VHFA’s full comments online.

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An annual survey of municipal officials in 29 large U.S. cities found unemployment at the top of the list of homelessness causes, according to  a recent report from the The U.S. Conference of Mayors’ Task Force on Hunger and Homelessness.  Respondents were asked to provide information on emergency food assistance and homeless services provided between September 1, 2010 and August 31, 2011.

Unemployment led the list of causes of homeless families, followed by a lack of affordable housing and poverty. Unemployment also led the list of causes of homelessness among individuals, followed by a lack of affordable housing, mental illness and lack of needed services, and substance abuse and lack of needed services.

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The State of Vermont’s Department of Economic, Housing and Community Development will conduct a public hearing in preparation of developing its 2012 Action Plan for the HUD Consolidated Plan for 2010-2015, to hear views about the State’s housing and community development needs, including priority non-housing community development needs and development of proposed activities, and review past performance related to its HUD Consolidated Plan.

The plan constitutes the State’s application for, and outlines priorities for use of approximately $12 million in Federal funding provided annually to the State for the Community Development Block Grants (CBDG), Home Investment Partnerships (HOME), and Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG). The goals of the plan are to provide decent housing, assure a suitable living environment, and expand economic opportunities for Vermont’s citizens. The current State’s Consolidated Plan is available on the Department’s website .

A Substantial Amendment to the 2011 Action Plan for the Emergency Solutions Grant for the additional $200,000 allocation will also be discussed.

At this time there will also be an informational gathering discussion to assist in the Substantial Amendment to the Consolidated Plan and development of the application to HUD for the plan and use of the $21,660,211 of CDBG Disaster Assistance funds for recovery, primarily from Tropical Storm Irene.

The date of the hearing is Monday, February 13, 2012 from 2:30 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. at the Pavilion Auditorium in the Pavilion Office Building located at 109 State Street; Montpelier, Vermont.

Read more in the public notice about the hearing.

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Next Thursday, February 2, 2012, Vermont’s Joint Committee on Tax Credits will conduct a public hearing to discuss changes to the Qualified Allocation Plan (QAP) used to select the projects that will receive state and federal housing tax credits.

Housing tax credits have become the primary source of funding for the development of affordable rental housing in Vermont. As administrator of the state’s  housing credit program, VHFA awarded nearly $7 million in tax credits to 21 apartment projects in 2011 which will provide much needed housing to low and moderate income renters across the state.

The meeting will be held from 9-11 AM in the National Life Board Room in the National Life Building in Montpelier, Vermont. For more information, contact Joe Erdelyi, VHFA’s Development Director, at jerdelyi@vhfa.org.

Materials for Thursday’s meeting, including a marked up version of the QAP, are available on-line:

QAP
Evaluation checklist
Smoke-Free Housing letter
Green building standards
Common rental application

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According to a recent study, requiring down payments of at least ten percent is less likely to prevent a mortgage from defaulting than other measures, such as requiring borrower income documentation and prohibiting hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages with “teaser payments”.   

Researchers at the University of North Carolina’s Center for Responsible Lending used national level data to examine the effect of various requirements on borrowers’ access to mortgage credit and on the number of defaults they would be likely to prevent.   

VHFA has found that that few first time home buyers are able to save down payments of ten percent or more.  Sixty percent of our borrowers in 2011 purchased homes through a  federal Rural Development program that allows qualified borrowers to borrow up to 100% of the home’s purchase price.

Even at the height of the housing boom, VHFA has always required complete borrower income documentation and has never offered predatory loans like the hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages studied here.

Read more about the University of North Carolina study.

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Citing three deaths of people who were homeless this winter, Governor Peter Shumlin re-instituted the Vermont Interagency Council on Homelessness (ICH) at a press conference yesterday. Angus Chaney, Agency of Human Services (AHS) Director of Housing, has been named chair and will work with the 22-member Council to:

1. Develop a 10 year plan to end homelessness with annual targets for reducing the number of people who are homeless and plan for specific initiatives;
2. Monitor and revise the 10 year plan as necessary; and
3. Report to the Governor annually on the progress and necessary resource, policy and regulatory changes.

VHFA’s Executive Director Sarah Carpenter is again named to the Council, and has participated since its original inception in 2003. Additionally, according to the Governor’s press release:

• “The Governor has asked AHS Secretary Doug Racine to adopt flexible eligibility criteria for this winter’s General Assistance Program during the harshest and most dangerous weather.
• Earlier this month, the state launched the Vermont Rental Subsidy Program to help very low-income renters address the housing affordability gap by supporting part of their rent for 12 months. The program also offers case management support and participants work to increase their income through employment or by accessing benefits for which they are eligible. To support sustainability, the program includes an opportunity for some families to transition to federal Section 8 rental subsides – permanently affordable housing.
• AHS is working to get an additional 100 housing vouchers that will help pay for both support services and rental costs for persons with mental illness.
• AHS received an additional $1.7 million in general funds to support homelessness prevention and rapid re-housing programs through the General Assistance program. This funding will continue the important work begun with federal ARRA dollars from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.”

VHFA looks forward to working with the Governor and Angus in continuing our shared goal of ensuring all Vermonters have adequate, safe, decent and affordable housing.

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If you’re walking down Church Street in Burlington this week and want to help shape the future of the city’s downtown areas, stop by the PlanBTV design charrette underway in the former Ann Taylor store space at 1 Church Street.   

Read more in today’s Burlington Free Press or watch a short video about PlanBTV.

This week-long effort to engage residents and visitors is part of a larger planning process that began last year.  Burlington received a sustainable communities planning grant from HUD to conduct the project.  The project included commissioning reports on a range of subjects affecting the city’s downtown and waterfront areas, including a  housing needs assessment completed by VHFA.

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