Thanks to the recent development of a menu of indicators and targets by the Vermont Agency of Human Services and the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission, describing how Vermonters are doing has become easier.
Many renters within and beyond Vermont's borders struggle to afford a decent, safe place to live. Increasing rents coupled with stagnant or declining incomes have widened the gap between the number of affordable rental units available to lower income households.
Next to job availability, access to affordable housing was ranked the second most important challenge for lower-income communities by New England respondents to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston’s Community Outlook Survey.
The websites managed by Vermont Housing Finance Agency, including the Vermont Housing Data , Directory of Affordable Rental Housing, Vermont Housing Managers Association, and Vermont Resident Services Coordinators sites are on line and available.
We are experiencing difficulties with the Vermont Housing Data website today, including with the online Vermont Directory of Affordable Rental Housing.
Vermonters pay property taxes of 1.66% of their home values on average, according to a new report prepared by the Tax Policy Center. This places the state firmly in the top ten, which also includes Connecticut, Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin.
At Thursday’s vigil on the Statehouse steps and joint legislative hearing on homelessness, Vermonters who have experienced homelessness and service providers were among the voices urging lawmakers to consider long-term solutions. Linda Ryan, co-chair of the Governor’s Council on Pathways out of Poverty, asked the state to fund more rental subsidies, in light of declining federal support.
The next Point-In-Time (PIT) count of Vermont’s homeless population is taking place later this month on January 29-30, 2014. The PIT count allows local communities and state policy makers to understand current problems of homelessness, target limited funding to appropriate housing and services, and track progress.
Ever wonder which Vermont area has the highest percentage of renters? Or the highest median household income? CensusExplorer, a new tool released by the Census Bureau, makes finding out as easy as a few clicks on a map.
Significant erosion in renter incomes over the past decade has pushed the number of households paying excessive shares of income for housing to record levels, a report this week by Harvard’s Joint Center for Housing Studies confirmed.