This week, the 802 Homes pilot, for which Utile is developing a catalog of pre-approved housing plans on behalf of the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development, drew new press coverage as a statewide public survey on the ten refined designs went live. The catalog spans ADUs to small multifamily buildings, each modeled on housing types already common in Vermont — from narrow porch-fronted homes recalling Burlington and Montpelier streetscapes to Four Square farmhouses drawn from Hartford and Manchester, both pilot communities along with Essex Junction.
The catalog moves missing middle housing from theory into practice, delivering permit-ready construction documents that target what is actually absent from Vermont’s housing stock: affordability, accessibility, and variety. Rather than the generic types the existing market already supplies, each design is tailored to those least well served today, such as elderly residents, first-time renters, and young families / first-time buyers. The plans are carefully dimensioned and detailed to be delivered by any means, whether factory-built or constructed on site by a local general contractor.
Seven Days recently covered the program, framing the catalog as a tool to fast-track permitting and address Vermont’s “missing middle.” The same week, The Pew Charitable Trusts published a national report situating Vermont’s effort within a fast-growing national movement to use pre-approved plans as a lever for housing affordability and quicker approvals. Utile is proud to be helping shape what this approach looks like in practice, translating a national policy idea into buildable, contextually grounded designs for Vermont communities. The team will continue developing the catalog through construction documents later this year, with the goal of making the plans freely available to builders in Vermont.
This work builds on the Vermont Homes for All Toolkit, developed with Neighborhood Workshop and CommonLand Solutions, and is being carried forward in collaboration with All At Once, Bensonwood, Logic Building Systems, Mass Timber Advisors, and Tom Bursey Designs.
