The mythology of non-profit “affordable” housing by the State of Vermont and organizations like Champlain Housing Trust and the Vermont Housing Finance Agency, is just that: a myth. Only federal “affordable housing assistance”, 30% income max rents, provide truly affordable housing through thick or thin, household income or no household income. Vermont “affordable” is middle class housing mostly with rents of $1,000 or more and no protection for downturns in income as has occurred for many in the pandemic. Burlington's “inclusionary zoning” requiring 10-25% of privately developed housing have a rent—now $1,200 monthly for a one-bedroom rent maximum—solidly a middle class housing type.
There is some modest good news statewide on the federal assistance for low income, now dominated by Housing Choice Vouchers in the hands of the low-income household or Section 8 units attached to a few or all of new construction projects with a 27-year contract to assure the units follow 30% income rent max and enable public and/or private financing.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities update recently numbers fed “affordable housing assistance” 30% income max rent units increased from 13,000 to 14,000 units, some of that increase occurring, apparently, during the Trump administration. https://www.cbpp.org/research/housing/federal-rental-assistance-fact-sheets#VT The 14,000 units equal 13% of the 2010 renters in Vermont, about one in five rental households. Based on the 75,100 rental households in the 2010 Census, 14,000 fed units now in place represent 18.6% of all renters, almost one in five. As Vermont has a substantial number of college students in private rental housing, particularly in the Burlington and surrounding towns, the estimate of one in five renters receiving “affordable housing assistance” is a fair one.
Still, while the number of federal units have increased by 1,000, during the same period the need estimated by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities increased from 15,000 to 16,800, an increase of 1,800, so Vermont fell another 800 units behind in “affordable housing assistance” units needed. As the Vermont non-senior population is in decline as the 2010-2030 senior population doubles, the priority must be tilted towards older Vermont rental housing assistance.
Taking these estimates one step further, the 2010 75,100 renters in Vermont less 15,000 federal rental assistance units leaves 61,100 households with 16,800 or 27% of the current non-assisted renters in need of fed rental assistance. The wait lists in Burlington area—1,000 at Burlington Housing Authority and an equal number at Cathedral Corporation which serves older and disabled Vermonters with age-restricted housing mostly, overall 2,000 on the wait lists—confirms the scale of need in the Center's estimates.
It must be kept in mind that there is not overall Vermont housing plan, and neither the State or Burlington provide a single unit of fed type assistance, i.e., rental units where a family or individual pays 30% of gross income max for shelter including all utilities. Still, the Coalition of Vermont Elders (COVE) the lobbyist group for older Vermonters seeks a state needs analysis for the first time for continuum of housing and housing assistance needs from rental, homeownership, in-home assistance, assisted living, etc.
Do the Vermont, City and non-profit programs help? Yes, they do help provide a needed housing supply and do directly subsidize mostly the middle income rental costs. Do State programs deal with housing assistance needs or alleviate increasing income inequality in the housing area? Likely just slightly opposite in net in the absence of low-income housing assistance programming.
