More than one in three Burlington renters pays more than half their income on housing.
That’s according to Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak, a Progressive, who outlined Wednesday a plan she says will facilitate affordable and equitable housing development across the city.
“This is a chronic issue in Burlington and elsewhere in the state, but its persistence only heightens the urgency of the need to take action, especially to benefit our low-income residents. And it's time to reinvigorate Burlington's legacy, and again to become a leader on affordable housing matters. I also want to make sure that we're building a strategy that centers equity and sustainable growth for all of our residents. If we don't innovate now, we really risk starting to fall further and further behind.”
During a press conference Wednesday, Mulvaney-Stanak unveiled a three-prong housing strategy that she says will lead to more types of affordable housing in the city.
“The first to revitalize our inclusionary zoning ordinance and our Housing Trust Fund. The second is to activate our neighborhood code that passed in 2024. The city can and should become facilitators to help individual property owners and small developers in new and innovative ways. And then the third and final piece of this framework is to seek out new and innovative public private development partnerships and exploring thoughtful and very strategic opportunities to build homes and communities on city-owned land.”
As part of the plan, Burlington is conducting an inventory of all city-owned land and properties to determine what can be utilized for housing. Reuse of problem and vacant private properties is also being studied, according to Director of Permitting and Inspections Bill Ward.
“Not just the housing units that are privately owned but it's also commercial properties, because our distressed property team is looking at properties that are underutilized, that may not have been housing before, but they could be excellent locations for housing. So that's part of this.”
The city’s new strategy is intended to reduce homelessness as more affordable homes and apartments are brought online. Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity Executive Director Paul Dragon says shelter capacity is stretched to the limit, and the state needs to step up with concrete solutions for affordable housing.
“While we wait for increased investment in permanent affordable housing, we need expanded shelter capacity and we need sustained funding. In 2016, just 10 years ago, we had the second lowest percentage of homelessness in this country. Today, we have the fourth highest percentage of homelessness.”
In September 2025 Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, said not enough had been done by the Legislature and signed an executive order to address the state’s housing shortage.
“For years I’ve sounded the alarm about the housing shortage in Vermont. Now, the top issues that come up over and over are the regulatory barriers leading to delays that increase the cost of projects and fewer homes being built for Vermonters. I’ll be signing an executive order to help developers and home builders so we can make a dent in the 40,000 homes we need in the next five years.”
Burlington’s mayor says her three-prong strategy will put the city on a path to meet a goal to create 7,000 housing units in Burlington by 2050.
