Vermont's Housing Committees

Volunteer driven non-profit serving households in Windham County, Vermont and the bordering towns of New Hampshire with the goal to "increase, improve and maintain housing that is available to those in need." With no paid staff, all programs are administered by volunteers. Programs include:

• Apartments-in-Homes
• Home Improvement Program
• Creative Community Housing Program

In July of 2023, the Chester Select Board established a 7-member Chester Housing Commission and at Town Meeting in March of 2025 the voters established a Chester Housing Trust Fund. The Select Board also implemented a short-term rental registration program in 2023, currently capped at 65 short-term rentals town-wide, and budgeted that the net proceeds of the short-term rental fees collected be transferred annually into the Housing Trust Fund. 

The Bi-Town Economic Development Committee was created many years ago to work on Economic Development issues in Dover and Wilmington. A housing sub-committee of Bi-Town was created in 2017 to discuss the growing housing needs in our community.

In 2019, the Housing Committee commissioned a comprehensive Housing Analysis and Master plan to learn more about the housing needs of our Valley. Since then, the committee has been using the data and goals outlined in that plan to work towards solidifying our housing inventory and to plan for future growth for our workforce and incoming residents. 

• Meeting other housing groups, learning about different aspects of zoning and planning.
• Planning outreach campaign to the community, including opportunities for landlords, business owners, renters and those living or working in Essex.
• Housing Needs Assessment completed.
• Created different working groups for different activities, such as story sharing conversations and Outreach, Housing Trust Fund, Zoning issues

• Created an Accessory Apartment ADU video, enacted an Inclusionary Zoning bylaw, conducted energy audit and retrofits at several mobile homes in Mountain View MHP, participated in Sunny Acres MHP becoming a coop.
• Completed Housing Needs Assessment in 2017, encouraged Select Board to seek VCDP funding for Kelley’s Field improvements, providing input to DRB on several large scale housing developments public to promote ADU.

• Conducted ADU survey in 2021 to know owners and renters perspective
• Plans to conduct public forum and outreach to landowners and developers about affordable housing opportunities

• Flexibility in the design, height and density of affordable housing projects
• Encourages senior and workforce developers through density bonus

Officially established by the Montpelier City Council on May 11, 2022. The Housing Committee’s mission is to "evaluate housing-related information and propose solutions to the City Council that address identified problems". The Housing Committee also works to educate the public about Montpelier’s housing situation and to advocate for policies and proposals that further the goals of the City’s Master Plan. The official committee is preceded by the Montpelier Housing Task Force, which acted between 1999 and 2022.

• Creating affordable and energy efficient housing revolving fund.
• Use of Town owned and donated lands for affordable housing construction.
• Increase rental housing stock through ADUs and making density bonus.
• Promote “missing middle housing”-duplexes, triplexes, quadraplexes.

The Housing Committee advises the Selectboard, the Planning Commission, and Town Staff on the housing needs of the Town of Richmond. The Housing Committee is responsible for gathering the community’s demographic information and housing data, generating housing-policy related ideas and concepts, ensuring that housing is made available for all protected classes—including race, color, religion, national origin, sex, disability, family status, marital status, age, gender identity, sexual orientation, receipt of public assistance, as well as abuse, sexual assault, or stalking victims—and educating the community on housing-related issues.

The Shelburne Housing Committee was created in 2016 as a subcommittee of the Shelburne Planning Commission. Its goal is to collect, organize, and analyze data in order to most effectively advise the town’s Planning Commission on the creation of more affordable housing. 

• Inclusionary zoning in transit district and expanding to city-wide in 2021.
• Working on recommendations that the city focus on equity and diversity as well as affordability.
• Planning to use Trust Fund for inclusionary zoning.
• Re-purposing land and commercial house for residential.

The Thetford Housing Committee plans to focus on promoting housing that supports current residents and people who wish to join our community. Originally founded as the Senior and Affordable Housing Committee of Thetford

The purpose of the Waterbury Housing Task Force is to advance goals in the Waterbury Municipal Plan pertaining to housing, and to engage in other areas of work related to housing as agreed upon by the group. The task force is intended to complement and enhance the work of other municipal Committees and Commissions.

At their June 28, 2023 meeting, the Selectboard approved establishing a Williston Housing Committee to further the goal of providing housing in Williston that is affordable to households across a broad range of income levels, including people with low- and moderate-income levels (affordable housing).

The Committee has an advisory role concerning the use of the Housing Trust Fund. The Committee will advise the Planning Commission concerning housing policy for land use and will take an active lead in delivering community engagement and outreach regarding housing issues.

The Winooski Housing Commission serves to advise the City Council on implementing the Housing section of the City’s Strategic Vision, where Winooski will "ensure a mix of quality housing that maintains and enhances Winooski’s unique sense of place and supports the needs of the entire community". 

Key activities include:

• Established housing goals for the Winooski Master Plan, identified gaps in available housing in Winooski and set targets to fill those gaps.
• Established a Housing Trust Fund.
• Held a housing policy summit hosting housing experts to discuss housing policy options for the community.
• Annually reviews gentrification monitoring report and the landlord registry rental pricing survey.
• Made recommendations to the Planning Commission for policy changes to promote creation of affordable housing.
• Providing interpreted homeownership and down payment outreach education to promote Champlain Housing Trust, AALV and VHFA activities.
• Advocating on how to use Section 8 voucher for homeownership.
• Advocating on reducing parking lot and density for multifamily unit projects.

• Incentivizing landlords to move from short term to long term rentals
• Promoting Home Share, Mobile Home Parks
• Incentivize landlords to create and make ADUs affordable for 5 years.
• Promoting employer provided housing.
• Parking lot reduction.