6/20/25: Housing Matters Newsletter

The committees of conference wrapped up their negotiations yesterday and all agreements will get an up or down vote next Thursday, June 26th. The most significant legislation of the session, the state budget (HB 1 and HB 2), faces an uncertain future.

The House and Senate members of the committee of conference for HB 1 and HB 2 agreed on a compromise; however, Governor Ayotte opposes the compromise and it’s unclear if it will have the votes to pass the full House of Representatives on Thursday. If the budget fails to get a majority of votes in the House or is vetoed by the Governor, the legislature will need to pass a continuing resolution to fund the state government while negotiations on a new budget continue into the summer.

There is recent precedent for a vetoed budget and continuing resolution. In both 2019 and 2015, the budget was vetoed and policymakers continued their work through the summer before agreeing to a compromise in September.

A week is a long time in the legislature, but it certainly looks like we are headed towards further budget negotiations over the summer.

These negotiations can be complicated, especially when their is deep disagreement over an issue. In previous newsletters we expressed our disappointment that there were fewer general fund dollars allocated to the Affordable Housing Fund in FY 26-27 than FY 24-25, that the Housing Champions Program was defunded, and that increases to shelter funding and the CDFA tax credit were not included, along with other key cuts to the Regional Planning Commissions and Housing Appeals Board. If the budget is fully opened back up, these policy issues may be back on the table.

We’ll be following the process closely and engaging wherever we can.

As always, if you have questions about the legislation we mention in the newsletter or housing-related proposals that aren’t included, please don’t hesitate to reach out.

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Best,
Nick Taylor

Executive Director
Housing Action NH
nick@housingactionnh.org

There were six bills that we were tracking throughout the committee of conference process. Here are the results:

• HB 1 and HB 2 (State Budget): As stated above, the House and Senate committee of conference members agreed to a compromise, but the budget faces an uncertain future. As expected, there were no changes to the Affordable Housing Fund, Housing Champions, or CDFA tax credits. The committee agreed on the Senate Housing Appeals Board position, which partially restored Housing Appeals Board, maintained the existing shelter SGIA funding, agreed on the Senate position to restore funding for transitional and supportive housing through mental health HHS grants, maintained permitting reform, and maintained the Senate position on wastewater infrastructure grants.
• HB 60: This would overturn forty years of precedent and, as passed by the House, would have allowed tenants to be evicted for no-cause at the end of lease. We continue to believe the entire bill is unnecessary, but the committee agreed on many of the harm reduction provisions included in the Senate version.
• HB 428: Prohibiting local amendments to the state building code. The House and Senate committee members agreed on a compromise with only small tweaks to dates referenced in the bill.
• HB 685: Allowing manufactured housing where other single-family construction is allowed. Unfortunately, the committee of conference report was not agreed to and HB 685 will not move forward this year.
• SB 291: This was originally the Yes-In-God’s-Backyard bill to allow housing on religious land regardless of other zoning restrictions. The committee modified the House passed version to only apply to existing parsonages and exempt them from property taxes due to their religious purpose. As the legislative process altered the purpose of this bill, it is no longer a priority for Housing Action NH.

While we didn’t pass everything we wanted this session and the absence of significant funding in the budget was a disappointment, there are important regulatory improvements that are on there way to the Governor. Here’s what’s moving forward:

Land Use

• HB 399: Creating a commission to study the zoning enabling act (Signed)
• HB 577: Municipalities must allow attached and detached ADUs by-right
• HB 631: Municipalities must allow multi-family in retail nd office commercial zones
• SB 284: Municipalities cannot require more than one parking spot per unit

Permitting, Approvals, and Red Tape

• HB 296: Relative to issuing building permits along private roads and establishing a 30 day timeline for ZBA appeals
• HB 413: Extending the length of time that a subdivision approval is exempt from ordinance changes prior to construction
• HB 428: Prohibiting local amendments to the building code *pending 6/26 floor vote
• HB 457: Prohibiting restrictions on dwelling units that are based on familial or non-familial relationships or marital status, occupation, employment status, or educational status
• SB 153: Expedited state DOT approvals for 20+ unit multi-family buildings
• SB 173: Standardizing the LIHTC assessment formula
• SB 188: Allowing for licensed independent building inspections
• SB 281: prohibiting municipalities from denying building or occupancy permits for property adjacent to class VI roads under certain circumstances
• SB 282: Allowing single stair multi-family buildings, provided other conditions are met
• SB 283: Prohibiting below-grade square footage from floor area ratio calculation

Other

• SB 4: C-PACE Program (Signed)
• HB 60: End of lease eviction *pending 6/26 floor vote. Housing Action NH opposes HB 60
• HB 309: Making electronic rent payments optional

You can’t win them all! Here are the bills that were either retained for more work over the summer/fall or killed this session (either by remaining on the table or through an inexpedient to legislate vote):

Retained/Rereferred Bills

• SB 84: Lot size reform; “starter homes act”
• HB 65: Directing landlords to offer tenants the option of reporting rental payments to consumer reporting agencies.
• HB 410: Limiting local ordinances to those that are narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest in public health or safety
• HB 465: Relative to the housing opportunity zone program
• HB 572: Establishing the Partners-in-Housing Program
• HB 604: Establishing a loan forgiveness program for low-income homeowners to build new accessory dwelling units

Tabled/Killed Bills

• HB 342: Removing the requirement for a variance if the density conforms to the neighborhood
• HB 685: Manufactured housing allowed on all single-family lots
• SB 81: Doubling the annual Real Estate Transfer Tax appropriation to the Affordable Housing Fund and making an additional one-time appropriation to the Affordable Housing Fund
• SB 86: Establishing a new loan guarantee program at New Hampshire Housing
• SB 113: Making an appropriation to the SGIA shelters and housing stabilization fund
• SB 158: Doubling the CDFA tax credit program
• SB 163: Prohibiting building permit moratoriums
• SB 170: Aligning local regulations with DES standards, limiting excessive frontage, and more
• SB 174: Prohibiting planning boards from considering the number of bedrooms
• SB 279: Continuing funding for the Housing Champions Program