Shared Equity Homeownership Program
Shared Equity Homeownership
Windham & Windsor Housing Trust’s Shared Equity Program helps people buy homes by offering down payment assistance grants of up to 35% of the market price to buyers who meet income requirements. This grant remains with the home, benefiting future eligible buyers when the home is sold. In return, the original buyer agrees to limit the profit they make from the home’s appreciation.
The program is supported by local, state, and national investors, and aims to keep homeownership affordable and sustainable for Vermont’s future generations.
The program provides down payment assistance grants to those earning at or below 120% of Area Median Income (AMI).
Additional down payment assistance may be available through Champlain Housing Trust’s Homeownership Equity program and participating lenders of the Vermont Housing Finance Agency. Your homeownership counselor would be happy to discuss any additional down payment assistance during 1:1 homeownership counseling after completion of the homebuyer education workshop.
This table shows the maximum household income allowed to qualify for the program:
| 1 person household | 2 people household | 4 people household | |
| Maximum Income VT Statewide | $95,090 | $108,670 | $135,840 |
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. and Vermont policies for the achievement of equal housing opportunity, in which there are no barriers to obtaining housing because of race, color, religion, sex, handicap, familial status, national origin, age, marital status, sexual orientation, receipt of public assistance, gender identity, abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.
How To Begin
The first step to participating in the shared equity program is to take the Home Buyer Education workshops. We have two options available – live classes monthly with hybrid access or pre-recorded on-demand. Please visit our How To Buy a Home page to learn more and register.
There are two ways for prospective homeowners to enter into the shared equity program:
– Resales – WWHT has over 147 homes in its shared equity portfolio. Resales are the sale of a property which is already in the WWHT’s portfolio. When our current homeowners want to sell, we help to find another income-eligible buyer. When homes become available, they will be listed on our website.
– Buyer Driven – WWHT receives grants to provide eligible buyers with down payment grants to purchase WWHT approved homes of their choosing on the open market and bring them into the WWHT portfolio. The availability of these grants is dependent on funding.
More than the basics…
Get a better sense of the program by watching this webinar led by our homeownership staff. The presentation walks you through the program. Find a handout on how the program works by clicking HERE