Multifamily management

The Vermont Department Fire Safety announced last week that on October 10, 2016 the 2015 Vermont Fire & Building Safety Code will take effect.

Accessibility Matters is offering an online training program called  “Home Sweet Accessible Home:  Mitigating Liability in Accessible / Adaptable Multifamily Housing” on October 10th, 12th or 19th, 2016.

Learn more and register.

On October 1, 2016, the Fair Market Rents in every Vermont county will go up.  Fair Market Rents

Ever wonder why it's not easier to build affordable apartments?  A new interactive tool developed by the Urban Institute illustrates the mathematical necessity of tax credits, loans, tenant income/rent and grants in paying for the costs of affordable housing.  Check it out to see if you can make the math work!

Thanks to a local survey commissioned by Vermont State Housing Authority,  the Fair Market Rent standards used for HUD's Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers in Chittenden, Franklin and Grand Isle counties will be revised upward effective today.  The levels established in December 2015 by HUD were 16 percent lower than the new levels. 

Efficiency Vermont is warning consumers about low-quality, non-certified LEDs that have recently started to flood the lighting market. These products may not perform when it comes to light quality, energy savings, and lifetime. By choosing an ENERGY STAR® certified LED bulb, shoppers can rest assured they are getting the highest-quality product with guaranteed savings.

Earlier this week, HUD published the final 2016 Fair Market Rent standards that will take effect as of tomorrow, December 11, 2015. FMRs are intended to represent the dollar amount below which 40 percent of the standard-quality rental housing units in an area are rented. They are used in HUD rental assistance programs, including the Section 8 and HOME programs.

Housing preserved by federal and state tax credits -- awarded by VHFA – was recently highlighted as a national example of effective use of public dollars. The $12 million in equity raised by the credits, along with other efforts led by VHFA to keep apartments in the Bobbin Mill and Wharf Lane buildings near Burlington’s waterfront affordable, are the subject of a recent HUD newsletter. 

There is no better way to learn about Burlington's land-mark affordable housing preservation efforts of the early 1980s than to take a walk around VHFA's offices. More than 200 apartments in the King Street area were renovated and preserved as affordable housing through partnerships between VHFA, HUD, the City of Burlington and local housing providers.