if a typical new home costs anywhere near what The Shires’ cost is, the potential homeowner would need $40,000 in cash for a down payment and closing costs and an annual family income of $87,000. Either of these amounts is beyond the ability of many Vermonters.
A new 30-unit Montpelier rental housing project built with private and government money cost $7.7 million — an average cost of $256,666 per unit. The building also includes a separately-funded, multi-million dollar mass transit center on the ground floor.
Tax breaks in the 2017 tax reform championed by President Donald Trump could help fund new affordable housing for low-income Vermonters. The law created “Opportunity Zones” for private capital to receive tax breaks by helping struggling Vermont communities.
One would think that with such a demand for rental housing, residential real estate developers would be jumping in to satisfy the demand, but they are not. If anything, they are conspicuously absent from any forums or discussions on the subject. Why?
With affordable housing properties in Vermont being developed for around $500 per square foot at taxpayer expense, the word “affordable” seems to have lost all meaning.
The House and Senate tax bills could be detrimental to an already struggling affordable housing situation in Vermont, according to estimates released by the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition.
Affordable housing borrowers in Vermont aren’t being expected to pay back loans, but that arrangement raises questions about IRS definitions of a bona fide loan in low-income tax credit projects.
Responding to criticism that mortgage loans for Vermont’s affordable housing program will likely never be repaid, the head of the the Vermont Housing Finance Agency says the program doesn’t depend on repayment, and is nonetheless financially sound.
“The money is never going to be paid back — that’s the red flag.”
Gov. Phil Scott’s proposed $35 million bond for affordable housing seemed to have broad support only months ago, but now the proposal appears to be on life support.
Gov. Phil Scott on Friday announced a four-fold plan to strengthen the local economy by creating more housing in areas designated for growth and reinvestment.