Vermonters say housing is one of their top priorities in this year’s election. It’s also a topic that has been front and center in debates in the Statehouse.
Here’s what you need to know as you approach the election with housing in mind.
Jump to a section:
- The basics
- Changes the Legislature and governor made recently
- How does your vote make a difference?
- What the candidates are saying this year
Let's walk through it together. This guide tells you how voting can impact housing in Vermont. Or explore another top issue:
The basics
Many parts of the country are experiencing a housing crisis, but Vermont has some particularly unflattering claims to fame.
Vermont has one of the nation’s highest rates of homelessness, and it’s still rising. As of last count — an imperfect number that does not include people with unstable housing or who are crashing with friends or family — there were 3,458 people experiencing homelessness in Vermont. Shelters are almost always full, and so in recent years the state has spent vast amounts of money using motel rooms as emergency housing. Experts say that housing market conditions — more than any other factor — are the best explanation for rates of homelessness.
Last year Vermont experienced the biggest spike in home prices in the country. The rental market is also strained, with very few rentals available and over half of rental households paying an unaffordable amount of their income on rent.
Supply is just not keeping up. The state needs to add at least 24,000 year-round homes over the next five years to help get the housing market to a healthy state, according to a new report. That would require a huge acceleration in construction at a time when it’s pretty expensive to build.
Changes the Legislature and governor have made recently
HOME Act: This 2023 law effectively banned single-family zoning statewide by requiring municipalities to allow duplexes in the same areas, and made other changes to municipal planning and zoning laws with the aim of encouraging denser development. It also set up temporary exemptions to Act 250, Vermont’s state-level land use law. It was supported by both the Legislature and the governor.
Act 250 reform: The Legislature passed a law this year that sets in motion a process to chop Vermont into a series of “tiers” that will dictate how development is treated under Act 250, easing the law’s reach in some already-developed areas and strengthening its protections over sensitive ecosystems. In the meantime, the law sets up a number of interim exemptions from Act 250, including one for all housing projects within the state’s24 designated downtown areas until January 2027, and for projects of up to 50 units around dozens of village centers around the state. The governor vetoed this law, but the Legislature overrode him.
Motel program: Seeking to rein in costs of emergency housing, lawmakers and the governor imposed caps on the number of motel rooms the state will pay for at a time, as well as a cap on the number of nights an individual household can stay. The caps will be lifted in the winter months. The restrictions have resulted in waves of people being pushed out of the motel program in recent weeks, including families and people with significant medical needs.
Short-term rental tax: In 2024, lawmakers enacted a 3% surcharge on short-term rental stays, with the money going to the state education fund.
Second home purchase tax: The Legislature increased the property transfer tax on second home purchases, while giving buyers of primary homes a modest property transfer tax break. Some of the new revenue is earmarked for eviction prevention programs.
Over the last few years, federal pandemic relief funds made it possible for Vermont to invest over $500 million for housing and shelter creation. This year the House proposed tax changes that would support sustained future funding for affordable housing, but the Senate was skeptical.
Lawmakers have hesitated to look at landlord-tenant law on a statewide level, and they have not approved local measures that would protect tenants from “no cause” evictions in Burlington, Winooski or Essex.
How does your vote make a difference?
To understand how your vote affects housing in Vermont, consider some of the decisions that can be made or influenced by elected officials:
- Where housing can be built, and what kind
- How much money is spent to support new affordable housing
- How much money is spent on rehabbing old homes, including weatherizing or adapting homes so Vermonters can age in place
- How much money is spent on emergency shelters and safety-net housing programs
- Whether to regulate rental housing on a statewide level, such as through a rental registry
- What laws should govern evictions or protect the rights of tenants and landlords, including on a local level
- Whether to impose statewide restrictions or taxes on short-term rentals such as Airbnbs
- Whether to impose additional restrictions or taxes on second homes
It helps to think about which areas matter most to you as a voter. Then, evaluate the candidates’ plans. If they propose major new funding for housing, how will they pay for that plan? If their sole plan is to remove regulations on development, will that be enough to meet the need of creating 24,000 homes?
Northeast Kingdom Senate race reveals fault lines in housing debate
What the candidates are saying this year
“Vermont needs to get out of the motel business and establish shelters to take care of the homeless population, while making housing more affordable and available for all. This isn't rocket science. If we don't have homes for the homeless, they won't have homes.” - Scott Beck, Republican candidate for Senate, Caledonia district
“I have a housing plan that I introduced last year. It's a $500 billion investment in housing. It is designed to increase supply, make sure we have protections, renter protections. It has an end to price fixing by corporations that buy up housing supply, and it also has affordability provision.” - Becca Balint, Democratic candidate for U.S. House
“We should unleash our creative forces via deregulation. We have many capable people willing to take the risks of building new housing if we let them do so with fewer and less onerous regulatory minefields.” - Rick Morton, Republican candidate for Senate, Windham district
“Modular homes produce less waste, can be fabricated more quickly than traditional homes and can be designed to be extremely energy efficient.” - Martine Larocque Gulick, Democratic candidate for Senate, Chittenden-Central district
“More visibility into the state's rental inventory overall, including short-term rentals, is overdue.” - Dara Torre, Democratic candidate for House, Washington-2
“I believe that in Vermont tenants have way more rights than landlords. Those laws make long term rental development very risky.” - Jed Lipsky, independent candidate for House, Lamoille-1
“Every town needs a state-funded housing ombudsperson — to track unused housing; to facilitate smart development of new housing; to work with financing institutions on making mortgages accessible to young Vermonters.” - John O’Brien, Democratic candidate for House, Windsor-Orange-1
“We have a housing crisis in our state and need to look for more ways to incentivize short-term rental owners to convert properties to full time rentals.” - Anna Tadio, Democratic candidate for House, Rutland-4
Find more candidate responses to questions about housing, taxes and affordability, climate and environment, health care and education in Vermont Public's candidate guide and debates.
How to vote in the general election
Eligible voters can register anytime up to and on Election Day, Nov. 5.
You can register online, in-person at your town clerk’s office, or on Election Day at your polling place.
Voting
If you received a ballot in the mail, you can return it by mail or take it to your town’s dropbox.
You can also vote early, in-person at your town clerk’s office or on Election Day at your polling place.
If you get a mail-in ballot but plan to vote in person, bring the ballot with you to your polling place.
Learn more
Find your registration status, ballot information, polling place info and more at your My Voter Page.
Get more information about the voting process in Vermont Public’s general election guide, and learn about who’s running in our candidate questionnaire.
This story is part of Vermont Public’s Citizens Agenda approach to election coverage. We’re asking a simple question: What do you want the candidates to be discussing as they compete for your votes? Front Porch Forum is our lead outreach partner for this project.
Have questions, comments or tips? Send us a message.
_