April 13, 2023

Recent studies show older adults are substantially more likely than any other age cohorts to be rejected for mortgages because of their mortality risks and lower retirement incomes. Relying less heavily on income and debt to assess creditworthiness could help ease barriers. “It’s important to look at alternate sources of wealth for a more comprehensive picture of someone’s financial background,” said Linna Zhu, a research economist at the Urban Institute.

Vermont has among the oldest housing stock in the nation, and although many homes are well preserved, older homes are still more likely to have lead paint and asbestos and tend to be less energy efficient and in need of weatherization improvements. “There’s not enough housing stock, or the housing stock is too dilapidated, so people leave,” said Peter Nelson, a geography researcher at Middlebury College.

About 970,000 public housing residents don’t have access to broadband internet, according to a new Pew Charitable Trusts report. The bipartisan Infrastructure Act could help close the funding gap; it marks a “unique opportunity” to address the problem, says report author Kathryn de Wit. But this isn’t a surefire solution, she added, and suggested the US Department of Housing and Urban Development should consider making more permanent changes, like factoring broadband into the costs public housingresidents must pay.

A record number of young adults experiencing homelessness and survivors of domestic violence are transitioning out of New York City shelters and into permanent housingthrough the pandemic-era temporary Emergency Housing Voucher program. “We’re hoping that the success of this program will prove to the city, state and federal government that this is something we should continue to offer after these funds go away,” said Nicole Branca, executive director of New Destiny Housing.