BRISTOL, Vt. (WCAX) – What will it take to ease Vermont’s housing crunch? In his inaugural address last week, Gov. Phil Scott called on lawmakers to do everything they can to get more homes built. Reporter Calvin Cutler examines how we got here and whether we can grow our way out.
From Vermont’s shrinking schools and rising property taxes to a strained health care system, many agree that housing lies at the root of many of the state’s challenges.
“I think the most recent election was a wakeup call for many that the status quo is not working for us,” said Loralee Tester with the Northeast Kingdom Chamber of Commerce. She says employers in her area are looking to fill hundreds of jobs but struggle to hire because of the housing shortage. And that demand just causes home prices to skyrocket further. “You talk to many young people — I have a senior in high school — there’s a fear of the future. Look at that house that should be worth $150,000 is now going for {$400,000} It’s not possible for people.”
So why can’t we build more to meet the demand? According to home builders, they are navigating a tricky economic environment. Tom Wilson has built homes for two decades. He says the skyrocketing cost of materials from inflation, supply chain disruptions from tariffs, and a shortage of skilled labor all drive up the cost of building homes. “We end up working harder for a smaller margin working in this landscape with higher costs,” he said.
One project underway in Bristol is an example of how homebuilders are trying to contain costs by using prefab materials. Wilson says unless developers receive subsidies from the state or federal government — or the home sells for over half a million dollars or more — the math doesn’t make sense for developers and they avoid building the badly needed single-family starter homes. “We are suffering in our profits because we are having to work around and mitigate the impact of these costs for our customers and have some sort of stability,” he said.
Others blame land use regulations on adding legal costs and delays. The Legislature made some changes to Act 250 last year, though critics and the governor say more needs to be done.
Lawmakers have not considered an expansion of subsidies for nonprofit developers and it’s unclear where that money would come from. Meanwhile, the governor wants lawmakers to invest in lower-cost housing programs including rehabbing existing units.
Just about everyone agrees it won’t be easy to create housing for Vermonters in the current fraught economic environment.