Two new reports show that rental housing in Vermont is unaffordable for many workers, not only for those earning minimum wage, but also for skilled middle-income workers.
A recent study illustrates how new market-rate housing construction in one part of town, especially in markets with low vacancy rates, improves housing affordability for lower income residents in other parts.
With town meeting day behind us and many new faces elected to local office across the state, this post shares a few key housing resources for towns.
A growing number of Vermont communities seeking economic and community vibrancy through housing have taken foundational steps of conducting local needs assessments and appointing housing commissions. These commissions are typically charged with recommending policy changes that will ensure the local housing stock offers options affordable at a range of income levels.
Due to its upward pressure on home prices, VHFA urged the South Burlington City Council this week to end the ban on home building known as Interim Zoning. South Burlington adopted the Interim Zoning Bylaw on November 13, 2018 after protests about future home building proposed within the City.
Vermont’s economy is growing but not in every county, and its gains have disproportionately benefited higher income Vermonters, according to the 2018 update of “State of Working Vermont” from Public Assets Institute. Poverty is distinctly more prevalent among younger Vermonters and Vermonters of color, the report notes.
With jobs to fill in Vermont’s Upper Valley towns, the lack of housing affordable to potential employees is becoming an obvious economic challenge, according to Vermont Business Magazine.
Chittenden County has the biggest imbalance between its share of VT jobs and homes, according to recent VHFA analysis. Although 33% of the state's jobs are in Chittenden County, the state is home to only 28% of the state’s workers and only 25% of the state’s homes. This is likely caused in part by workers living in Franklin County, where the share of homes outnumbers the share of jobs, who commute to Chittenden County for work.
Washington County also has an imbalance similar to Chittenden’s, but on a much smaller scale.
The recent annual report on rental housing from Harvard University's Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS) has found that although the national demand for rental housing has decreased slightly overall, there is still significant need for housing affordable to low-income renters.
VHFA's Sarah Carpenter and Maura Collins talked with reporters this week about likely impacts of the many provisions related to housing included in the federal tax reform bill passed this week.