Multifamily management

The Vermont Office of Economic Opportunity in the Department for Children and Families is now accepting proposals for the Phase IV Expansion of the Family Supportive Housing program for FY21. Family Supportive Housing places families experiencing homelessness into housing and provides long-term, intensive service coordination and case management to help families keep housing.

Are you or is someone you know in need of an affordable apartment? According to the Vermont Directory of Affordable Rental Housing, there are current vacancies in 47 affordable housing complexes throughout the state.

To help re-house Vermonters in living quarters rendered unsafe by COVID-19, owners and managers of Vermont's subsidized apartments are encouraged to list all vacancies on the Vermont Housing Data website. In addition to Vermonters who find themselves in need of rental housing, HUD and FEMA both use this vacancy list to coordinate disaster recovery.

VHFA is aware that many homebuyers, current homeowners, and property owners may have questions and concerns about buying a home or paying their mortgage during the COVID-19 outbreak.  To address these issues, VHFA has compiled a list of resources:

For homebuyers

In the midst of the unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19, VHFA is committed to continuing to provide excellent service to its partners while also safeguarding the health of its staff and of the community. To that end, as of this week, VHFA will be limiting the number of staff in our office. The majority of VHFA staff will be working from home. Our staff responses may be slightly delayed due to the change in conditions, and we appreciate your patience as we adjust.

The Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) Board of Commissioners announced yesterday that its annual allocation of federal and state housing tax credits will support the development of 214 permanently affordable apartments in nine communities across the state. Low and moderate income Vermont renters will benefit from a 12.5 percent increase in Vermont’s annual allocation enacted by Congress last year.

As the federal government shutdown continues into its third week, many in the affordable housing community have expressed concern about what it might mean for their programs. Vermont Housing Finance Agency will remain open throughout the shutdown. However, some of the federal program funding that VHFA and its partners administer may be affected if the shutdown persists. 

U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

Earlier this fall, VHFA Executive Director Sarah Carpenter received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Vermont Housing Managers Association (VHMA) for her lifetime of service in affordable housing.

New estimates from the ACTION Campaign demonstrate the significant impact that the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit has had in Vermont, including creating and preserving over 7,000 affordable homes since 1986 and supporting nearly 8,000 jobs per year.

Residents of Parkview Apartments in Newport celebrated energy-efficient improvements to their apartment complex at a ribbon-cutting ceremony held last week. The $3.1 million project was overseen by RuralEdge, which owns the twelve affordable units. The project was supported by Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), which awarded state and federal tax credits as well as a construction loan.