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In 2003 we looked at two growing housing problems: shortage of decent rental housing affordable to low-income people, and homeowners’ difficulty keeping their homes in the face of rising costs. It struck us that there’s a way to address both problems together: help the homeowner create an apartment.
So, without funding for a program, we helped two homeowners make apartments. We then won generous funding from the Town of Brattleboro and the Thomas Thompson Trust. All told, we’ve now midwifed 26 apartments – 13 in Brattleboro and 13 in outlying towns. Most have been in houses, some in garages or barns.
 Where design help is needed, it often is provided by students in the Architectural Drafting and Design program at the Windham Regional Career Center.
BAAH provides technical help, often some hand-holding, and $3,000 toward the costs of construction. Responsibility for the construction is entirely the homeowner’s.
Total costs of creating apartments have ranged from $10,000 to $45,000. Rental income normally repays that cost within two to five years. After that, net rent typically pays the majority of the property tax.
Homeowners are free to rent to whomever they wish. And, once there is a tenant, BAAH remains available for guidance and support.
This is the cheapest way we know of to produce new housing. And it is energy- and land-efficient.
Recent Vermont legislation encourages the development of apartments in homes (see Adding an Apartment to Your House).
Main funding for the program has been provided by the Town of Brattleboro and the Thomas Thompson Trust.
Brattleboro or other Windham County homeowners interested in learning about this program may call Byron Stookey at (802) 257-4691 or Allen Myrick at 257-4616. But please first read the information at Apartments-in-Homes Information for Homeowners.
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