Vermont housing program officials warn of compliance 'cliff' as early units reach covenant end dates

Alex Farrell, commissioner of the Department of Housing and Community Development, told the House Committee on General and Housing on Feb. 21 that units financed under the state's housing initiative will begin to reach the end of short-term affordability covenants starting this year and ramp up in 2027–2029.

Farrell said 525 units were funded under the program’s first round. “525 is the exact number for b hip 1,” he said. He told the committee that 66 units completed in 2020 using federal Coronavirus Relief Funds lacked a homelessness re‑housing requirement and thus their five‑year compliance windows end in 2025; other, later units carry the homelessness requirement and will come off compliance later.

The department provided a chart showing when units were completed and when their compliance periods end. Farrell said the earlier five‑year window was intended as a temporary runway so state and federal affordable‑housing portfolios could expand and absorb people leaving homelessness. He described a recertification…