Vermont housing board tells House committee more funding, faster permitting needed to keep projects on track

BURLINGTON — Officials from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board told the House Committee on General & Housing on Jan. 15 that the agency has helped leverage nearly $1 billion in affordable-housing investment but needs more state funds and quicker permitting to keep a pipeline of projects moving.

Gus Seelick, director of the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, told committee members the board has deployed about $377.5 million in recent years and that those public dollars have helped attract roughly $700 million more in federal and private capital. “There’s been about a $1,000,000,000 investment in real estate as affordable housing that you’ve helped us make over the last four years,” Seelick said.

The testimony matters because board officials said remaining state and federal funds are limited while demand is high: the board currently is reviewing roughly $50 million in potential requests for the remainder of the fiscal year and has about $13.5 million available, Seelick said. Officials warned that if expected budget adjustments — including a previously discussed $30 million in ARPA appropriations — do not materialize, developers may slow or halt projects that are already underway.

Board officials outlined how public funding is used to lower construction costs and preserve long-term affordability. Polly Major, director of policy and special projects for the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, described the board’s shared-equity homeownership model, in which a one-time public subsidy reduces initial purchase cost and future…