Vermont Housing

Details: Created on Thursday, 22 September 2022 20:56; Written by Sean Cavanaugh

VERMONT - Finding affordable housing in the state of Vermont has been tricky, and Governor Scott has a plan to try and address it.

At a press conference on September 21, 2022, Scott outlined the Vermont Housing Improvement Program, or VHIP, with the goal of bringing existing housing back online. In last year's pilot program, 300 housing options were put back into the market. The additional 20-million dollars Scott is investing in affordable housing will only increase that number. Scott has acknowledged that building more homes in the state is needed, but he also believes that we need to invest in the housing that already exists to increase affordable options for those in the state and those looking to move here.

"Yes, we need to build new homes. But we also recognize that there's a lot of existing housing stock out there, istting vacant because it's either not up to code or needs a lot of time and money people don't have," said Governor Scott.

Back in June, Governor Scott proposed historic housing legislation after it became clear that there was a demand that couldn't be met. COVID and jobs sent people fleeing to Vermont, but many have struggled to find a roof to put over their head.

"This is impacting Vermonters already here and it's a barrier to growing our workforce. We have a lot of jobs available, and we know there are people who are looking to work in Vermont, but they can't find decent, affordable housing," said Governor Scott.

Scott hopes to focus on other areas like permitting and zoning reform, to make it faster, easier, and less expensive to build in Vermont.

"We won't see the scale of investment we made for a long, long time," Governor Scott stated.