Goal:  Investigate and implement policies that will give tenants more power to ensure they have more comfortable, more affordable, and more efficient rental housing, and incentivize landlords to utilize weatherization programs available.

According to 2020 data, there were 76,411 renter households in Vermont, projected to rise to 77,021 by 2025 in a state with 262,767 households.  74% of households who rent have incomes under Vermont’s median household income. 65% (49,829) of households who rent make under 80% of this threshold. Tenants cannot choose to weatherize their homes, as major structural changes are a decision only a landlord can make.

This Network Action Team, which started late fall of 2022, is likely to develop a two year strategy. They will use research, including that done by Middlebury College Students’ on Weatherization and Tenant Protection, and municipal policies like Burlington’s Minimum Housing Code Weatherization Ordinance, to find workable solutions to support the needs of tenants statewide.  There is interest in legislation establishing a Rental Registry, as a necessary first step to understanding the full rental market in the state, as well as support for efforts to support further development of Vermont’s new Weatherization Repayment Assistance Pilot (WRAP) to make this on-bill financing more easily available to landlords.

If you are interested in learning more or getting involved in this project, please contact Cara Robechek cara@eanvt.org.