FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 18, 2025

New Report Showcases Actions to Make Housing More Affordable
Recommendations include regulatory reform, funding incentives, and environmental remediation.

Montpelier, Vt. – Vermont’s Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD), in partnership with the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board (VHCB), the Land Access and Opportunity Board (LAOB), and the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), has released a report containing recommendations to make housing more affordable and accessible by enacting regulatory reforms, making further investments in infrastructure, and giving stronger support to home builders.

“Vermont needs to build thousands of homes per year to ease our housing crunch, put downward pressure on prices, and increase affordability for all Vermonters,” said DHCD Commissioner Alex Farrell. “This work requires new incentives and fewer regulatory barriers empowering communities of all sizes to add the housing they need – whether it’s ten new homes a year or a hundred.”

Key proposals in the report:

• Easier and Faster Permitting: Improve the Act 250 land use permitting process to accelerate housing projects.
• Increased Funding for Housing: Boost financial support for housing development to increase affordability for renters and buyers.
• Enhanced Community Support: Collaborate with cities and towns to encourage housing development by expanding infrastructure like water, sewer, sidewalks, and roads.* 
• Redevelopment of Underused Properties: Accelerate the cleanup of old industrial sites including Brownfields and repurpose them for housing.
• Promotion of Affordable Homes in New Developments: Explore local policies to ensure a portion of new housing projects include affordable units.

Stakeholders emphasize that these policy approaches must be linked to data and the Statewide Housing Needs Assessment released in August.

“This report maps the steps to removing long-standing barriers to much-needed housing across Vermont,” said Maura Collins, Executive Director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. “Implementing these recommendations will help more Vermonters find high-quality, affordable homes to rent and buy.”

“Regulatory policy can be a powerful tool in creating mixed income communities when it is designed around affordability,” said Gus Seelig, VHCB Executive Director. “This report offers actionable recommendations on how Vermont can continue to weave affordability into its regulatory framework and create homes for all Vermonters.”

More than 750 Vermonters participated in the Housing Policy Survey that informed this work. Researchers also engaged housing developers, municipal officials, and advocacy groups.

This report is part of DHCD’s ongoing commitment to increasing housing options and making Vermont more affordable, complemented by a suite of research covering topics such as creating a land bank program to boost housing supply and off-site construction to speed the introduction of new homes, training Vermonters to become small-scale developers via the Homes for All initiative, and working to measure building progress with the Housing Development Dashboard.

The full report is available online for those interested in learning more and getting involved.

*Vermont municipalities can currently use Tax Increment Financing (TIF) to build out infrastructure. In the PATH for Vermont housing plan, the Scott Administration is proposing the creation of Strategic Projects for Advancing Rural Communities (SPARC) to help rural municipalities with smaller projects achieve their infrastructure and development goals.