There’s a three-story building on Pleasant Street in Newport. Even with the immaculate restoration of the home’s turn-of-the-century grandeur, it might not come across as so different from others in the neighborhood. But to those searching for safe, affordable housing, it is.

Inside, families and single adults make their homes in each of the five apartments.  The units are bright, airy and clean, close to downtown amenities. Most important, they are safe and affordable. This house is what many tenants in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom search for but never find.

Decent rental housing is in short supply across Vermont. The need is especially acute in Orleans, Essex and Caledonia, the three counties composing the Northeast Kingdom.

“It’s old.” says Gilman Housing Trust’s Bob Hansen, of the Kingdom’s rental housing stock. “You see a lot of deferred maintenance. A lot of old apartments are not in great shape.”

Hansen should know. As a rehabilitation specialist at GHT, he’s well acquainted with the area’s single- and multi-family homes. High demand, coupled with old and deteriorating stock, often leaves tenants little choice but to live in sub-standard rentals – sometimes with harmful consequences. Fire safety, lead paint and adequate heat are just some of the issues tenants contend with.

A Collaborative Solution

“It all started with a conversation back in 2000,” recalls Paul Hill, VCLF’s Director of Housing and Community Facilities Lending, of how the Private Landlord Program (PLP) was started. “Dick (Mansfield), VCLF’s former executive director, and I were talking about the need for safe housing in the Kingdom. Landlords wanted their properties to be safe, but in many cases it was either prohibitively expensive or they simply couldn’t access financing. Deploying low-cost money from USDA Rural Development’s Intermediary Re-lending Program, rehabilitation becomes affordable for landlords, making tenants’ homes safer.”

“The obvious collaborator for this program was Gilman Housing Trust.” notes Paul. “VCLF hadn’t done much end-user housing lending, and Gilman has extensive experience in rental rehabilitation and construction.”

A 20-year-old housing organization, GHT had worked with VCLF on numerous occasions to finance affordable-housing projects. “It was serendipitous in a way,” says Paul, “that our target area happened to have such a strong partner.”

Working closely with USDA Rural Development and GHT, VCLF crafted a loan program to provide private landlords in the Northeast Kingdom with the financial means to repair buildings. Gilman provides marketing and outreach, construction budgeting and general project oversight. VCLF then underwrites the loan, varying the rate based on the percentage of units that are kept affordable for low-income Vermonters.

Hansen works with landlords throughout the process and recognizes the difficulties they face. “The biggest challenge for landlords is being able to pay their expenses,” he observes. “For example, meeting rising fuel costs; old buildings are drafty and hard to heat. The challenge is to make the property pay for itself.”

The Private Landlord Program makes rehabilitation possible by making it affordable.

Safer Apartments, One Unit at a Time

The house on Pleasant Street is a glowing example of what the PLP can accomplish. Not only is it completely up to code, but the rehabilitation has preserved an architectural gem for the community.

When Alan and Lauri Bonneau of Derby bought the building as an investment property in early 2002, it had been in ill-repair for many years. Bonneau embarked on a full renovation of the property. Requiring additional funds to complete the job, he turned to the PLP. “It’s expensive to renovate,” comments Alan. “(The low rate) keeps costs down.”

One home at a time, the PLP is raising the quality of rental housing. To date, ten properties have been rehabilitated through the program.

“It’s definitely a good program,” says Bonneau. “The house has been totally re-done – all new wiring, and brought up to fire code. The tenants basically have a new place to live.” The PLP worked so well for Bonneau that he’s about to wrap up renovations on a second property financed through the Program.

Committed organizations and landlords will continue working hard to improve rental properties for tenants. There’s much work to be done. As for the tenants of the house on Pleasant Street – they are five more families who can say they are home, safe home.