VHFA: Vermont needs far more homes; agency urges funding and policy changes

Maura Collins, executive director of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, told the Senate Committee on Economic Development, Housing & General Affairs that Vermont faces a sizeable shortfall of housing and outlined VHFA’s top priorities for production, preservation and financing.

Collins said VHFA’s data show roughly 31% of Vermonters are “cost‑burdened” — paying more than 30% of income for housing — with renters disproportionately affected. “Half of our renters are cost burdened and a full quarter of our renters are actually paying more than half their income for housing costs,” Collins said, warning those households are at high risk of eviction or financial distress.

The agency presented several drivers of demand and supply shortfalls: homes leaving the market because of poor condition, low vacancy rates, and ongoing household formation. Collins described how median sale prices and higher interest rates have pushed homeownership out of reach for many renters; she said the statewide median single‑family sale price rose from about $260,000 in 2021 to roughly $340,000 in recent years and that required down‑payments have moved from around $52,000 to about $68,000 in the same…