By Molly Gray

Housing in Vermont is too expensive and too scarce. Since 2020, home prices in Vermont have risen by an average of 31%. The average rent for a 2-bedroom apartment is over $2,000 per month. A 2025 Vermont Housing Needs Assessment estimates that Vermont needs 24,000 to 36,000 additional homes between 2025 and 2029 to meet demand, normalize vacancy rates, and grow our workforce.

Vermont’s housing shortage affects everyone: families that want to grow, seniors who want to downsize, renters who want to buy their first home, workers who want to relocate, and the businesses that would hire them. 

The good news is this: between recent land use reforms, commonsense policy changes, and investing in the workforce needed to build, I’m confident we can deliver the housing solutions Vermonters desperately need. 

Here are five critical steps we can take:

First, evenly distribute infrastructure resources. The Community and Housing Infrastructure Program (CHIP) is a new tax increment financing tool that helps towns pay for the new water and sewer lines, roads, and stormwater systems needed to support housing, without taking out bonds or relying on federal grants. This promising tool will need continuous support to make sure that smaller communities, which often lack staff, get equitable access to infrastructure resources. We need to ensure adequate support for small communities committed to using CHIP and other state programs that support rural development. 

Second, continue to advance Act 250 reforms that enable housing development in downtowns, village centers, and other areas with the jobs and infrastructure to support growth. Vermonters were rightfully concerned with the original version of Act 181. Thankfully, the Legislature corrected course to remove the “Tier 3” and “Road Rule” provisions, while keeping those that remove red tape and accelerate housing. 

Third, standardize, modernize and simplify local zoning laws. Act 250 isn’t the only damper on new housing: local zoning codes can add months of delays and thousands of dollars to projects. Furthermore, many small communities lack the staff to keep up with changing needs, relying instead on volunteer planning commissions to update their zoning codes. We remove costly and drawn-out delays to housing development by advancing a simplified and standardized model zoning code. The state can develop a model zoning code that levels the playing field and makes building the homes Vermonters need predictable and cost-effective. 

Fourth, bring shovel-ready housing plans statewide. The state as part of an 802 Homes initiative is developing a set of easy-to-follow housing blueprints that meet energy and fire safety codes. Soon, these designs will be pre-permitted for local zoning codes in several pilot communities. This program will give individuals and small-scale developers “plug-and-play” designs that they can build with affordable materials, and without lengthy permitting reviews. 

As promising as this program is, we can go further. Once the designs are finished, the state could require local zoning administrators to approve permits for designs from the 802 Homes catalog, wherever an applicant can prove that their site meets state environmental laws. And the state can further scale up this commonsense idea by including 802 Homes blueprints in model zoning codes.

Finally, develop our housing workforce. Without skilled tradespeople such as carpenters, electricians, and plumbers, Vermont will never meet its housing goals. The good news is that we have the tools we need to train the next generation of building and trades professionals. We can match students in Vermont’s career and technical education centers with employers who need labor to create more apprenticeships. We can help apprentices turn their studies into careers by offering scholarships, loan forgiveness, and tax credits for those who commit to working in Vermont’s home construction industries– something we already do for college and university students. I call this initiative the Vermont Housing Corps, and it can help Vermont fill important gaps in our workforce while rapidly building the housing we need. 

Whether we live in Swanton, Guilford, Pownal, or anywhere in between, Vermonters take pride in our self-sufficiency and resilience. When we see a problem, we fix it, whether it’s a broken fence or a broken economy. The next two years of the Trump administration will almost certainly see Washington punishing so-called “blue states” like Vermont with less federal help than ever. No one is coming to save us, so it’s up to us to invest in ourselves, and our communities. 

Let’s pick up the tools, come together, and get to work building the housing we need for our families, our elders, our neighbors (old and new), and our current and future workforce.

Molly Gray is a Democratic candidate for Lt. Governor. Previously, she served as Executive Director of the Vermont Afghan Alliance (2023-2026), Vermont Lt. Governor (2021-2023), and as an Assistant Attorney General (2018-2020).