Nearly 90% of extremely low-income Vermont renters spend an unaffordable amount of their income on housing costs, according to the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC)’s recently released annual report The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes. The report highlights a critical shortage in the availability of affordable housing across the country.

This commentary by VHFA Executive Director Maura Collins appeared recently on VTDigger

There is only so much room in our budgets for housing, heating, and transportation, and when we sit down to pay our bills it’s clear how inextricably linked each of these are.

When thinking about our budgets, too many Vermonters are faced with an affordability crisis. Volatile fossil fuel prices and old, leaky homes combine to make winters uncertain and uncomfortable.

More than one in three Vermont households live in homes that consume unsustainably high portions of their income, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau.

With town meeting day behind us and many new faces elected to local office across the state, this post shares a few key housing resources for towns.  

A growing number of Vermont communities seeking economic and community vibrancy through housing have taken foundational steps of conducting local needs assessments and appointing housing commissions.  These commissions are typically charged with recommending policy changes that will ensure the local housing stock offers options affordable at a range of income levels.