In addition to multi-unit development, there are solutions that individual homeowners can carry out and that can help pay the mortgage and make homes for new neighbors while not carving up open space or adding to municipal roads and infrastructure.
Home-sharing provides one quick way to boost affordable housing options. Instead of living alone, you can share your home with housemates. But how do you find the right housemate for you? Enter Sharing Housing, Inc., a nonprofit based in East Dummerston, VT, on a mission to elevate this affordable housing solution.
“Even before the pandemic, many people struggled with housing costs and social isolation,” said Annamarie Pluhar of Sharing Housing. “Shared housing is a viable solution many of us overlook when considering where and how to live, despite multiple advantages — social, emotional, and financial.”
Can home-sharing meet your needs? Find out with this free online course, 5 Key Benefits of Shared Housing, then dive deeper with a self-paced online course called Discovering Shared Housing, to help individuals find and keep good housemates.
Additional Resources on Home Sharing
Homeshare Vermont provides hands-on help. “Each compatible homesharing “match” we arrange is unique and based upon the needs, interests, and lifestyles of the individuals involved. Our 35+ years of experience, skills, and knowledge help us find just the right person for you. Our comprehensive screening assures a great pool to select from, but it is always up to people in the program to decide who they want to live with.”
Thompson Senior Center Could you benefit from having someone else in the house with you? Do you have room in your house to share? The Thompson Aging at Home Program can now help facilitate Homesharing, a simple idea where two or more people share a home for mutual benefit. A person offers a private bedroom and shared common space in exchange for rent, help around the home or a combination of the two. After conducting background and reference checks, we will work to find the most compatible match possible based on your interests, needs, and lifestyle. There are no age or income restrictions to be eligible for the program. Contact Shari at the Thompson at 802-457-3277 or sborz@thompsonseniorcenter.org
Homeshare Mount Washington Valley Homesharing is two or more unrelated persons sharing a home. It can be that simple. HomeShare MWV was created to facilitate matches between people who own a home and people who need a home, and to help by removing the worries of privacy, compatibility and safety.
An Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) includes an apartment over a garage, a tiny house in your backyard, or any small dwelling on the same land as your single-family house.
“As the ‘missing middle housing’ concept is popularized among planners and designers, ADUs are poised to present the most viable stepping-stone solution for cities that are experiencing a housing crisis,” said Kol Peterson, author of Backdoor Revolution – The Definitive Guide to ADU Development.
New Hampshire and Vermont laws have been changed to make it easier for homeowners to build ADUs, to boost the states affordable housing supply without developing more land. Not every state has made widespread access to ADUs official,” said Jess Kelley of Solid Roots Construction in Manchester. “It is an incredible step forward, but, as we realized in the course of working with our customers who wanted to build one, many people still aren’t aware that they even have the option.”
Chris Lee of the company Backyard ADUs based in Brunswick, ME, guides people through the process of building an ADU, from design to permitting to move-in day. You can purchase a feasibility study of your land and local zoning rules from them for $450.
“When we started working on ADUs, we thought the mission was to help homeowners build rental units in their backyards,” shared Chris. “But, we quickly realized there was simply a huge gap in available housing — there are not enough quality small [not tiny] homes to go around and most builders don’t want to build them.”
Additional Resources on ADUs
https://www.aarp.org/livable-communities/housing/info-2019/accessory-dwelling-units-adus.html – AARPs guide for using ADUs to expand housing options for people of all ages
Brattleboro VT Apartments in Homes – 15 years of success helping home-owners create ADUs, a quick read of why it keeps working https://baahvermont.org/our-programs/apartments-in-homes/information-for-housing-organizations/
Mad River Valley ADU Program – their 2020 Pilot year created 3 new places to live. Approaches and lessons learned are shared by Kaziah Haviland in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3BEZC-ZhX8 from 22:00 to 42:30.
Like the name states, Tiny Houses are small homes usually under 600 square feet built on wheels or foundations. A Tiny House is considered a ADU if it’s on the same land as a single-family house but can also be located in a standalone property or clustered to form a neighborhood. In Keene, a tiny house is not permitted in most zoning districts since an ADU must be attached to the primary residence.
State and local regulations can present challenges to those who want to go tiny. Earlier this year, state representatives introduced House Bill 588, requiring that municipalities allow Tiny Houses anywhere any single-family homes are permitted. The bill, however, did not pass.
“We’ve had many people who really want to buy them but couldn’t find a place they were allowed,” said Anne Mellin, co-owner of Tiny Living Spaces. “Unless you own property that you already have a house on and put the tiny home in as a second dwelling, you can’t do it.”
Learn more about Affordable Housing legislation.
Additional Resources on Tiny Houses
https://saportareport.com/an-experimental-tiny-houses-neighborhood-debuts-in-clarkston/sections/reports/johnruch – a nice model from Georgia.
How do we bring more of these small solutions to our region? While The Local Crowd Upper Valley and Monadnock offer rewards-based crowdfunding, a platform called Small Change provides real estate investment crowdfunding.
Small Change allows everyday people to invest in real estate projects that “change cities and neighborhoods for the better.” They select projects that boost walkability and bike-ability, offer better access to healthy food and green spaces, and elevate other attributes that increase the quality of life for all.
Ross Chapin, the pocket neighborhood expert: A good place to start for communities interested in pocket neighborhoods and cottage clusters!
Close to Home: Affordable Housing Solutions: Describes affordable alternatives to a stand alone house on a large lot.
Missing Small Housing (very similar to missing middle housing, but smaller!):Fun and interesting home solutions from all over, including from our local history.
Finding Common Ground: the Definitive Guide to Renting in Vermont; 2nd edition: This extensive handbook covers everything that landlords and tenants need to know about Vermont’s landlord-tenant laws. Finding Common Ground puts information for landlords and tenants into one place and explains the meaning of Vermont’s statutes surrounding the housing rental relationship. It also includes strategies for working through problems with a tenancy and a collection of tools and resources.