Accessory dwelling units (ADUs) can help communities by creating more housing while preserving open space, and they can offer homeowners benefits like rental income and a neighbor to lend a hand. With the passing of a new law in 2023, every homeowner in Vermont is eligible to construct an ADU on their property.
However, homeowners can be daunted by the questions and costs associated with ADUs – and communities are sometimes unaware of the new law.
To address these barriers, participants are being sought for a pilot program this summer intended to support low- and moderate-income homeowners in becoming ADU creators. The program is being offered by the White River Valley Consortium, a loosely affiliated network of organizations and residents working to support 14 towns in the White River Valley in increasing the availability of housing that is affordable for early-career young adults and beginning entrepreneurs. The Consortium Program Manager, Sarah Danly, is hosted by Vital Communities.
Applications are now open for the pilot phase of the program, which is aimed at low- and moderate-income homeowners in Randolph, Brookfield, Braintree, Rochester, Hancock, and Granville and is free to the homeowner.
The first 10 interested homeowners who meet geographic and income eligibility criteria will have their potential project evaluated by the project’s team experts based on the project’s location and how it fits with applicable zoning, floodplain regulations, and sewer and septic service. The program is free for participants. The evaluation also will provide preliminary feedback and next steps for the homeowner to consider.
Five of those homeowners – selected to represent a diversity of housing types and locations, such as rural versus downtown – will be offered more in-depth assistance via an in-person site visit by members of the Consortium as well as one or two professionals with expertise related to the specific questions that came up in each site’s virtual evaluation. The visiting team would ask questions and provide feedback during the visit as well as compile a list of recommended next steps for the homeowner. These site visits are expected to occur in June but exact timing is dependent on the first stage of digital evaluation.
The five site visits could include staff from that particular municipality, such as zoning or floodplain administrator; architects, designers, or builders; landlords or tenant-landlord liaisons/service providers to help answer questions about what it will be like to have a tenant on one’s property: and septic designers or other contractors whose specific technical expertise may be helpful based on the preliminary virtual evaluation.
In addition to helping those selected homeowners assess the feasibility of ADU development, the project plans to write up the five featured projects as models for other people interested in building an ADU under similar site conditions.
What is An ADU?
An “Accessory Dwelling Unit” or ADU, often referred to as an “in-law apartment,” is a smaller dwelling on the same lot as the main house. ADUs come in many forms: they can be created within the existing envelop of the house (e.g. in an attic or a walkout basement); built as an attached extension; built within or attached to a different existing structure (e.g. above a detached garage); or built as a freestanding structure.
Who is eligible for the project?
Geographic: The pilot version of this program is open to people living in Randolph, Brookfield, Braintree, Rochester, Hancock, and Granville. We hope to expand this in the future.
Income: This program is available to low- and moderate-income households. For the purposes of this program, this means households are eligible if their income is less than:
| Household Size | Total household income |
| 1 person | 46,022 |
| 2 people | 84,727 |
| 3 people | 107,553 |
| 4 people | 127,123 |
| 5 people | 135,341 |
| 6 people | 124,340 |
Homeownership: Participants must own their home (with a mortgage is fine) and they or a family member must live in that home.
What organizations are a part of the White River Valley Consortium team? Who might we expect to come on a site visit?
The full list of WRVC organizations can be found here. The organizations involved most closely in this ADU pilot and likely to participate in the site visit include Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission, Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation, Randolph Area Community Development Corporation, and Vital Communities.
Examples of potential other participants for the site visits could include:
- Other members of the WRVC steering committee
- Staff from your town government, including the zoning administrator or floodplain zoning administrator
- Architects, designers, and/or builders
- Peers with experience being landlords or tenant-landlord liaisons/service providers to help answer questions about what it will be like to have a tenant on your property
- Septic designers or other contractors whose specific technical expertise may be helpful based on the preliminary virtual evaluation
This program is funded by a grant from the Working Communities Challenge of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston. Vital Communities work in housing is also supported by the sponsors below as well as the funding partners that support the full range of programs at Vital Communities!
