Construction survey data finds that new homes in the Northeast tend to be built on far larger lot sizes than elsewhere in the country. The median newly built single-family home in the Northeast was built on a little under half an acre, compared to less than a quarter of an acre nationwide. Research suggests that strict zoning laws are responsible for the disparity and have resulted in higher home development costs and sale prices.  

Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) has been selected as one of the top five small places to work in the state by Vermont Business Magazine. The award program is dedicated to identifying and recognizing the area’s best employers and providing organizations with valuable employee feedback to continue improving. This year, VHFA ranked fourth overall.

VHFA is gathering input and data regarding two components of the Homeowner Assistance Fund (HAF) slated to open later this year. HAF was created by the federal American Rescue Plan Act to provide relief for homeowners experiencing financial hardship after January 2020. The Fund will provide Vermont up to $50 million over the next 4 years to provide assistance for mortgage and other expenses troubling homeowners with pandemic-related hardship as well as for housing counseling and legal services.

In 2020 Vermont’s Energy Action Network formed a Weatherization at Scale action team, with the goal of weatherizing every home owned or rented by low-to-moderate income Vermonters by 2030. The coalition, which includes Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA), successfully urged Vermont lawmakers and the Governor to invest more than $20 million towards weatherization in the FY 2022 state budget. This includes a $9 million pilot tariffed to-the-meter financing home weatherization program to be administered by VHFA.