At a Jan. 10 hearing of the House Committee on General & Housing, Julie Lowell, economic security policy and outreach director at the Public Assets Institute, told committee members that Vermont faces rising housing costs, a shortage of affordable units and a possible shortfall in federal voucher funding that could require state action.

Lowell said housing costs in New England have increased faster than inflation over the past four years and that Vermont households are increasingly cost-burdened. "In 2023, over 50% of households who had incomes under $75,000 were paying more than 30% of their household income on housing," she said, adding that among renters "it was closer to two thirds of renting households" that were in unaffordable housing.

The witness cited home-price and mortgage-rate changes as additional barriers to ownership. She said Vermont Housing Finance Agency data show the median home price rose from $260,000 in 2021 to $315,000 in 2023, and that mortgage interest rates rose from a little under 3% in 2021 to about 6.5% in 2023. "The impact on a family in trying to get into this house as a new homeowner is over $11,000 more expensive in that first year of homeownership for that family," Lowell said, and estimated lower first-year equity as a result.

Lowell told the committee the state materially underproduced housing between 2019 and 2023, creating roughly a 10,000‑unit shortfall that contributed to higher vacancy pressure and homelessness. She cited the housing needs assessment projections showing a five‑year target range of roughly 15,000 to 25,000 units — with a high-end estimate near 35,000 units — to meet new demand and normalize vacancy rates.

Lowell also raised concerns about rental assistance funding. She said Burlington Housing Authority notified community partners that, in calendar year 2025, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is likely to underfund rental-assistance needs for current Housing Choice Voucher recipients. She warned that the Housing Authority has suspended issuing new vouchers to households searching for housing and that the funding gap could affect current voucher holders unless the state fills the shortfall.

On funding, Lowell said state spending on housing represented a small portion of the fiscal 2025 budget: "Of Vermont's $8,600,000,000 budget in fiscal year 25, a fairly small portion went to housing... approximately $170,000,000, around 2% of the state budget." She recommended more targeted, sustained state investment and policies that address supply, supportive housing needs (for people with mental-health, substance-use or developmental disabilities) and barriers faced by migrant workers and Vermonters of color.

Committee members asked methodological and data questions during and after the presentation, including about insurance-cost estimates in the Public Assets analysis and the housing-needs assessment assumptions for migration. Lowell said the Public Assets visualizations use the housing needs assessment and Vermont Housing Finance Agency methodologies for some estimates and that more granular production‑cost data would likely come from the Housing Conservation Board and DHFA.

Procedural business at the start of the hearing included the committee chair's housekeeping remarks on schedules and witness procedures and a nomination for committee clerk. A committee member nominated Representative Mary Howard for the clerk role; the chair asked if there was any objection to electing Howard by acclamation, and after no objection was recorded, the committee appointed Mary Howard as clerk by acclamation.

The committee recessed for a short break and expected to resume for the next witness later in the morning.