Stakeholders gathered in Montpelier at the Statehouse today to launch the Let's Build Homes initiative. Miro Weinberger, Executive Chair of Let’s Build Homes, highlighted the widespread effects of the housing shortage and its impacts on families, businesses, communities and the state's sustainability.
VHFA's Executive Director Maura Collins outlined the scale of the problem and said, "In the 1980s, we built three times the number of homes we do now. This summer, VHFA’s Housing Needs Assessment showed we need to double our current housing production to meet demand. Without action, Vermont risks becoming a playground for the rich and famous while moderate-income workers struggle to live here.” (Hear Collins remarks on YouTube).
Loralee Tester, the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce Executive Director, emphasized the universal nature of the issue, “This isn’t just a rural problem—it’s a Vermont problem. While solutions may look different in Essex County compared to Essex Junction, the need for action is universal. Housing is the foundation of our state’s vitality. Without it, we lose the people, businesses, and institutions that make Vermont what it is.”
The coalition’s mission is to build more homes of all types for Vermonters of every background and income level. By breaking down barriers to construction, creating flexible policies that allow communities to grow in ways that work for them, and advocating for smart growth principles, Let’s Build Homes aims to ensure a sustainable and inclusive future for the state.
Let’s Build Homes is focused on accomplishing specific reforms this legislative biennium that:
- Address the escalating cost of construction through innovation, increased density, and new investment in infrastructure.
- Allow communities to build the housing they have approved and envisioned by reforming the appeals process, as well as making additional adjustments to Act 250 to address issues identified in the wake of the landmark 2024 legislation.
- Provide municipalities new tools to finance public infrastructure that expands housing opportunities.
- Ensure the new Act 250 exemption maps (Tier 1A and 1B) promote housing supply and affordability by dramatically expanding housing opportunities.
- Invest public resources to create permanently affordable housing for people with economic barriers preventing them from securing housing, or who are unhoused or disabled.
Learn more at the Let's Build Homes website.