Home Repair Grants in Vermont (2026 Guide)

Choose the right Vermont program

Heat, insulation, and energy repairs

Emergency Heating System Program

Vermont’s Emergency Heating System Program repairs or replaces a home’s primary heat source during a winter heating crisis. It can cover a boiler, furnace, heat pump, fireplace, space heater, or wood or pellet stove when that system is the home’s main heat source.

Type of help: Emergency repair or replacement service, not cash paid to the homeowner.

• Household income must be at or below 200% of the federal poverty level.
• The household must have a winter heating crisis involving its primary heat source.
• Applications are not accepted year-round. The annual window is November 1 through April 29.

Apply through your local community action agency and call before visiting. An older or disabled applicant who cannot apply in person may be allowed to apply by phone. On weekends and holidays during the application season, an elderly or disabled household, or a household with a child under 6, may call 1-800-479-6151.

Free Weatherization Assistance

The Vermont Weatherization program can provide a whole-house energy assessment, insulation, air sealing, diagnostic testing, and other approved energy improvements. Vermont reports an average of about $10,000 in improvements per completed home, but that is a program average, not a grant amount promised to each applicant.

Type of help: Free direct weatherization service for an eligible household. It is not a loan and the homeowner does not choose a cash award.

You may qualify if you have not received free weatherization in the past 15 years and at least one of these applies: your income is within the program limit, your household receives Seasonal Fuel Assistance, someone receives Supplemental Security Income, or an adult recently received certain Reach Up benefits.

Vermont’s last dated income table expired June 30, 2026. Do not rely on an old chart copied elsewhere. Use the income link on the official page or ask the local agency for the limit now in effect for your county and household size.

Apply through one of Vermont’s five weatherization agencies:

• Addison, Chittenden, Franklin, and Grand Isle: CVOEO, 1-800-545-1084 ext. 316
• Central Vermont: Capstone, 1-877-919-2299
• Caledonia, Essex, and Orleans: NETO, 1-800-639-3212
• Windham and Windsor: SEVCA, 1-800-464-9951 ext. 1308
• Bennington and Rutland: BROC, 1-800-717-2762

Weatherization is strongest for insulation, air leakage, and energy-related conditions. It is not a general fund for a new kitchen, cosmetic siding, or an unrelated roof replacement. See the site’s broader weatherization guide for background, but use Vermont’s official page for current eligibility.

Efficiency Vermont financing

Owners who do not qualify for free weatherization may still have energy options through Efficiency Vermont.

The Home Energy Loan can finance 100% of an eligible project up to $25,000, with terms up to 15 years. Current posted rates range from 0% for some lower-income borrowers and shorter terms to higher rates for longer terms or higher-income households. Eligible work can include weatherization, heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, central pellet systems, and health or safety repairs needed as part of the energy work, up to 50% of the loan.

Type of help: A repayable loan. A 0% rate does not make it a grant.

The WRAP on-bill program requires no credit check and places the payment on the utility bill. It is available through participating utilities and requires a positive utility payment history plus a project expected to save enough energy. The payment may remain attached to the home’s utility account if the resident changes.

Type of help: On-bill financing, not free work. Call Efficiency Vermont at 1-888-921-5990 before signing a contractor agreement.

Regional grants and low-cost repair loans

For roofs, wiring, plumbing, heating, structural work, wells, septic systems, and accessibility changes, Vermont often routes homeowners to a regional nonprofit. Most require that you own and occupy the home and meet an income limit, commonly no more than 80% of area median income. The exact limit changes by county and household size.

These programs may address health and safety repairs, not just the single item you name. Champlain Housing Trust, for example, may inspect for all health and safety issues and requires enough equity for a loan secured by a mortgage. Its stand-alone $3,000 grant generally fits only when the whole eligible project costs no more than $3,000 and no other health or safety work is found.

Windham & Windsor’s $7,500 grant is listed as limited-time help that offsets a loan. Confirm that funds remain before counting on it. NeighborWorks of Western Vermont’s posted rates are also subject to change.

For roof-specific ideas, also review the site’s roof repair guide. Vermont applicants should still begin with the regional office above because local service areas and funding control the real application.

USDA Section 504 for rural homeowners

The federal USDA Section 504 program is open year-round in Vermont and New Hampshire. It can help very-low-income homeowners repair, improve, or modernize an eligible rural home or remove health and safety hazards.

• Loan: Up to $40,000 at 1% fixed interest for up to 20 years.
• Grant: Up to $10,000 for a homeowner age 62 or older who cannot repay a loan.
• Combined help: Up to $50,000 under regular program limits.

Type of help: The loan must be repaid. The grant is limited to eligible older homeowners and may have to be repaid if the home is sold within three years. Grant funding is a lifetime limit.

The home must be your primary residence, the address must pass USDA’s rural eligibility check, household income must be within the county’s very-low-income limit, and you must be unable to obtain affordable credit elsewhere. Burlington is not rural-eligible, and some other developed addresses may also be outside the map.

Contact USDA Rural Development at 603-223-6035. Ask the office to check your exact address before you pay for reports or estimates. The site’s Section 504 guide explains the federal program in more detail.

Manufactured homes in registered parks

Vermont’s MHIR repair program is for people who own and occupy a manufactured home in a registered Vermont mobile home park. Owners whose homes sit on land they own, and renters who do not own the home, are not eligible.

Current status: The official state page still lists the standard 2025 Home Repair Award round as closed. It says emergency repair applications may continue while separate emergency funding remains available. The foundation round is also listed as closed. Do not use an old application date as proof that a new standard round is open.

Emergency awards are for an immediate risk of losing safe housing, such as complete loss of heat, drinking water, or electricity, severe damage to the home’s shell, or qualifying disaster damage. The program lists roof, heating, plumbing, electrical safety, accessibility, siding, skirting, and weatherization-preparation work as possible uses.

Type of help: State repair award. The program lists a total cap of up to $18,000 for necessary habitability repairs, but approval and available funding are not guaranteed.

Work must be approved before it starts. MHIR does not reimburse completed repairs. Apply through the state portal or request a paper application from CVOEO at 802-660-3455 ext. 204.

Lead, wells, septic systems, and accessibility

Lead hazard reduction

The Burlington Lead Program serves qualifying properties in Burlington and Winooski. It offers forgivable financing and grant-funded healthy homes work. Pending federal approval, the city says assistance could reach up to $30,000 per unit for lead hazard reduction and $10,000 per unit for healthy homes work.

Owner-occupied homes generally must have been built before 1978, meet the income limit, and have a child under age 6. Rental owners have separate rules and may have to pay the first $1,000 per unit plus costs above program limits. Call 802-865-5323.

Outside Burlington and Winooski, the Vermont Health page points to the Vermont Housing & Conservation Board’s Healthy & Lead-Safe Homes program. It hires certified contractors and conducts clearance testing for qualifying homes. The posted screen is generally at or below 80% of county median income, with a child age 6 or younger required in an owner-occupied home. Call 802-828-5064.

Type of help: Program-managed lead reduction, forgivable financing, or grants tied to specific work. It is not unrestricted home repair cash.

Failed wells and septic systems

The On-Site Loan Program helps eligible Vermont residents repair or replace failed drinking water supplies and on-site wastewater systems. The state health screening page says the applicant must live in the home year-round and have household income below 200% of Vermont’s median household income. Call 802-461-6051.

Type of help: Loan, with underwriting and servicing through a lending partner.

The separate ARPA Healthy Homes On-Site program is not accepting applications as of this update. Future funding is not guaranteed. Join its mailing list, but do not postpone an urgent failed-system application while waiting for that grant to reopen. The site’s sewer repair guide offers additional general background.

Accessibility and aging at home

The VCIL Home Access Program helps eligible low-income Vermonters with physical disabilities make home-entry and bathroom changes so they can remain at home. VCIL does not post the application online because staff screen the need first. Call 802-224-1807.

Type of help: Direct accessibility modification assistance. It is not a general remodeling grant.

Older homeowners and caregivers can call the statewide Older Vermonters HelpLine at 1-800-642-5119 for referrals, options counseling, and help sorting local services. The HelpLine does not itself promise repair funding.

A veteran with a qualifying service-connected disability may also qualify for a federal VA adaptation grant. For federal fiscal year 2026, the maximum is $126,526 for Specially Adapted Housing and $25,350 for Special Home Adaptation. These grants have narrow disability and ownership rules. They are not general veteran repair grants. The site’s veteran repair guide lists broader starting points.

How to apply without losing time

Documents to gather

• Photo identification
• Deed, tax bill, title, mortgage statement, or other proof of ownership
• Proof that the home is your primary residence
• Income records for each household member counted by the program
• Homeowner’s insurance information
• Photos of the damage
• A short repair description and any inspection or violation notice
• Utility or fuel bills for energy programs
• Contractor estimates, if the program asks for them
• Mobile home title and park name for MHIR
• Water tests, septic reports, or failed-system notices for well and septic help
• Disability documentation only when a disability program requests it

Do not pay a contractor or begin work until the program says in writing that it is allowed. MHIR and many grant-funded repair programs do not pay retroactively.

If help is denied, delayed, or unavailable

Ask for the exact reason in writing. Then ask whether the issue can be corrected, whether there is a waiting list, and which Vermont program the staff member would call next.

• If weatherization says no: Ask Efficiency Vermont about rebates, financing, or an eligible contractor.
• If a regional loan does not work: Ask whether a smaller grant-only project, USDA, VCIL, lead funding, or another local fund fits.
• If USDA says the address is not rural: Return to the regional nonprofit and Vermont 211.
• If MHIR standard repair is closed: Ask whether the condition meets the emergency definition and join program updates.
• If a well or septic grant is closed: Apply to the On-Site Loan Program and ask the regional nonprofit whether it can include the failed system.

For a broader overview of possible funding types, see common repair programs.