Housing

Over the next two weeks, key committees in both the House and Senate will have to finalize work on major bills dealing with housing, child care, paid family and medical leave and other policy proposals.

Christiana Martin wants to know how much short-term rentals, such as Airbnbs, are exacerbating Vermont’s housing crisis. Brave Little State surveys the data, and finds out how communities across the state are responding to a growing industry.

Towns all over Vermont will discuss zoning, landlord-tenant rights and housing infrastructure as voters weigh in on development and managed growth.

A Senate committee has advanced a wide-ranging housing bill that sets the stage for yet another debate in Montpelier over the future of the state’s 50-year-old land-use development law, called Act 250.

This week, lawmakers in the Vermont House and Senate unveiled proposals that try to make the state's zoning ordinances more conducive to new development. That's as Vermont's housing shortage continues.

Gov. Phil Scott is asking lawmakers to sign off on a nearly $300 million mid-year spending plan, and he also wants them to use a revenue surplus to lower property tax bills next year.

Officials at the Federal Reserve have signaled in recent days that they may raise interest rates again, continuing a trend of rate hikes intended to cool the economy and curb inflation. That typically means higher mortgage rates, and a corresponding drop in home prices — several factors among many impacting the housing market.

Vermont is investing hundreds of millions of dollars into building more housing. And for the most part, projects are getting underway in larger towns and cities.But there’s a group of small towns in southern Vermont that say the need is just as strong in their communities, so they're tackling the problem one home at a time.

From housing and child care to climate action and mental health, lawmakers will face tough spending decisions as federal coronavirus relief aid begins to dry up.

The buying frenzy of a year ago is long gone. Home buyers have pulled away, sellers are holding back, and the whole housing market is locked in a deep freeze.