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Shared-equity programs and IDD pilots are producing units but rental assistance and outreach remain critical
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Summary
Witnesses said VHCB's shared-equity and specialized housing pilots have produced preserved homes and new models for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but stressed the need for rental assistance and targeted outreach to historically marginalized households.
Polly Major and Gus Seelig told the committee that VHCB’s shared-equity programs have conserved more than 1,400 homes and served roughly 2,100 buyers, and that recent pilots under Act 186 produced three different models to house people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Major described a preservation example in Morrisville and cited Champlain Housing Trust outreach and a private $1,000,000 fund used to reach historically marginalized homebuyers. She said shared-equity terms typically capture about a quarter of resale gain while allowing the seller to retain principal paid down over time, producing a modest owner return.
Representative Burrows pressed witnesses on racial equity: she said 16% of resales to BIPOC homeowners does not capture the state's broader homeownership gap. Major and another witness said the program is serving BIPOC households at rates higher than broader statewide percentages and pointed to targeted outreach funds as part of the explanation.
Specialized housing: Seelig and Major reviewed Act 186 pilots (2023) that funded planning for three models to serve people with intellectual and developmental disabilities; witnesses urged the committee to hear from study-group leaders Susan Aronoff and Kirsten Warkley about a plan to meet an estimated 600-home need for that population.
Rental assistance: witnesses warned that capital subsidies are less effective without robust rental assistance for the lowest-income households; Major said about three-quarters of needed rental homes must serve households under 80% of median and two-thirds of those need to be deeply affordable (about 50% of median).
Next steps: witnesses offered to provide the committee with underlying studies and program metrics and to return with more detailed equity and mortgage-market data.
