Sen. Bernie Sanders yesterday joined a number of housing officials at the groundbreaking of Cedar's Edge, an apartment complex on Susie Wilson Road in Essex. The 30-unit building, being developed by Champlain Housing Trust and Housing Vermont, will include 25 units designated for income-eligible tenants. VHFA provided construction financing and allocated Tax Credits to the project.
AP: More than half exit foreclosure-relief program
The Associated Press reports that, as of last month, approximately 680,000 of homeowners who entered the federal government's mortgage relief program, have been disqualified. That's 51% of all participants, up from 48% the previous month.
Those figures, released by the U.S. Treasury Department yesterday, might reflect the complex nature of fixing the nation's housing crisis.
Green historic preservation on VPR Wednesday
Tomorrow's "Vermont Edition" on Vermont Public Radio will cover green historic preservation.
Housing tops child-care as most common employee-assistance request
For the first time, more people placing calls to employee-assistance lines are requesting help for housing problems than for the previously most common reason, child care.
The numbers come from a new report by ComPsych, which has tracked employee-assistance calls since 1984. The report looked at 25,000 calls placed between January and June of this year.
Housing, specifically moving, was the topic of 41% of all calls. Child care had 32%, elder care 17%, and health care, 10%.
Fuel assistance programs low on resources
Vermonters who rely on two of Vermont's emergency fuel assistance programs might have trouble receiving help this year.
The Burlington Free Press reports the Warmth Program and the Shareheat Fund — both administered by the Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) — are underfunded.
“We’ve never, ever gone into a heating season with this few resources,” says CVOEO Community Relations Director Tim Searles. “This is unprecedented."
WSJ: 10 reasons to buy a home
In response to a recent Time magazine cover story titled "Rethinking Homeownership," The Wall Street Journal today published a piece titled "10 Reasons to Buy a Home."
"Maybe there's more pain to come in the housing market," Brett Arends writes, "but when Time magazine starts running covers that declare 'Owning a home may no longer make economic sense,' it's time to say: Enough is enough."
Channel 5 on the Section 8 beat, too
Earlier today we told you about Vermont Public Radio's "Vermont Edition" episode devoted to Vermont's Section 8 housing voucher crisis.
WPTZ-TV Channel 5 also aired a story about it last week.
Section 8 waiting list featured on VPR
Vermont Public Radio's "Vermont Edition" devoted an episode to Vermont's Section 8 housing voucher crunch last week.
Vermont State Housing Authority (VSHA) Executive Director Richard Williams appeared on the show, speaking about VSHA's decision to close its 3,000-name waiting list at the end of this month.
Free Press: Burlington colleges pursue student housing projects
Vermont's housing shortage goes way beyond the pressures of housing Vermont's student population.
But in Burlington, the annual influx of college students usually brings to attention the city's already tight housing market.
The Burlington Free Press reported this weekend on efforts by the University of Vermont and Champlain College to tackle the issue.
Free Press: Vermont spared big home-sale slump
"The state’s real-estate market hasn’t stalled the way markets have in other states," according to an article in this weekend's Burlington Free Press.