“Homes for All” Toolkit (Vermont) (2024)

Vermonters need better housing options and more affordable homes. Achieving this goal requires changing how homes are built in Vermont, particularly regarding the location and types of new homes.

Currently, Vermont’s housing production is focused on large and expensive single-family homes on sizable lots and large-scale multi-family apartments. However, Vermonters seeking housing options in-between, such as duplexes, four-plexes, cooperative housing, senior housing units, age-friendly homes, or townhouse condominiums, face limited choices. Regulatory and financial barriers have made developing diverse homes on a smaller footprint more challenging and complicated for small-scale developers who want to contribute to their communities.

This project aims to change that by unraveling regulatory complexities and reviving common-sense solutions that work for Vermont, such as Missing Middle Homes (MMH). The Vermont Homes for All Toolkit and community engagement process will re-introduce MMH to Vermont by focusing statewide attention on small-scale gentle infill and incremental development as a strategy to address Vermont’s housing and affordability crisis.

Video: In March 2024 the Department of Housing & Community Development launched the Homes for All Toolkit at a special event that brought together novice and emerging small-scale home builders, community development professionals, and local leaders interested in innovative home-building and home-renovation solutions to connect, network, and learn. Watch the Summit recording here!