Understand Your Housing Needs2020-2025 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment
In 2019 the Department of Housing and Community Development hired the Vermont Housing Finance Agency (VHFA) to conduct the 5-year Vermont Housing Needs Assessment. This Assessment is used to inform the State’s 5-Year Consolidated Plan to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other statewide and county housing and policy decisions. The Consolidated Plan is a requirement of HUD and combines information on several federal entitlement grant programs: Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME), Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG), the National Housing Trust Fund (HTF) and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA). Vermont is a recipient of CDBG, HOME, HTF, and ESG funds.
A new and exciting feature of this year's Assessment is that in addition to the written report, VHFA is hosting and regularly updating the data included as well as a number of other indicators on the Community Profile section of www.housingdata.org. This tool should prove to be a useful resource for anyone interested in the demographic makeup, housing needs, and economic indicators for communities and regions around Vermont.
The following is the full 2020 Housing Needs Assessment, including county-level indicators as well as a "fact sheet" for each chapter of the report that pulls out the major takeaways and interesting findings.
In 2014, the Department selected the firm Bowen National Research to conduct a Vermont Housing Needs Assessment.
In addition to the statewide analysis, Bowen's report included county level housing needs assessments which was made possible through funding provided by Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, the Vermont Agency of Human Services, the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board, Housing Vermont, the Vermont State Housing Authority, and the NeighborWorks® Alliance of Vermont.
A previous statewide housing needs assessment was completed in 2009 In preparation for the 2010-2014 Consolidated Plan. DHCD contracted with the Vermont Housing Finance Agency to conduct this study which was funded by VHCB, VSHA, AHS, VHFA and DHCD.
