With almost thirty housing-related hearings next week, there are plenty of opportunities to engage!
As a reminder, if you are interested in signing in or submitting testimony online, you can find the House page here and the Senate page here. All you need is the date of the hearing, the relevant committee, and the bill number. You can find all of the information in the write-ups below.
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State House Updates:
In The Committee Room
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* As a reminder, the legislative office building is closed for renovations. All House committee meetings will be held at 1 Granite Place (South Building), Concord, NH. You can find directions and general information here. *
Next week, the House Housing Committee is meeting on both Tuesday, January 20th, and Thursday, January 22nd.
House Housing Committee: Tuesday, January 20th, Granite Place, Room 231
9:00 AM — HB 1196, repealing the state housing champion designation and grant program.
- What It Does: This bill repeals the Housing Champions Program.
- Why It Matters: The Housing Champions Program, administered by the Department of Business and Economic Affairs, is a popular incentive-based program that rewards municipalities that take pro-homes steps with a “housing champion” designation. The designation opens up opportunities for additional grants and prioritized funding opportunities. There are over 20 communities in New Hampshire that have been designated “housing champions”.
- HANH Position: Oppose
9:30 AM — HB 1405, relative to the housing finance authority’s affordable housing guarantee program.
- What It Does: Establishes an affordable housing guarantee program within the housing finance authority to promote affordable housing for low- and moderate-income persons. Requires the housing finance authority to offer loan guarantees to lenders who have current approval to provide financing through the housing finance authority to reduce the risk of their loans. Loan guarantees may not exceed $300 million. This is similar to SB 86 in 2025.
- Why This Matters: It is very difficult to develop affordable housing. This proposal would make it slightly easier by allowing below market rate housing development to secure more competitive financing with the assurance of the state-backed loan guarantee.
- HANH Position: Support
10:00 AM — HB 1499, relative to additional grounds for eviction under the landlord and tenant statute.
- What It Does: This proposal adds additional grounds for eviction including if a tenant is unlawfully present in the United States, within three years prior to the eviction notice has been convicted of murder, felonious assault, sexual assault, rape, kidnapping, stalking, possession or sale of controlled substances, robbery, domestic violence, criminal threatening, burglary or any violent crime which resulted in injury to any other person, or if the tenant is a “sexual offender”.
- Why It Matters: Landlords can already evict tenants for any health or safety reason, and the existing broad “other good cause” eviction option can include failure to disclose information. This proposal further destabilizes the housing market by making evictions easier and overly broad in its impact. For example, this bill could lead to the eviction of an entire family if a teenage child were convicted of possession of a controlled substance.
- HANH Position: Oppose
10:30 AM — HB 1523, relative to disclosure requirements for condominium associations.
- What It Does: This bill establishes disclosure requirements for homeowners’ associations.
- HANH Position: Monitor
11:00 AM — HB 1598, relative to notice for tenants and landlords engaged in eviction processes.
- What it Does: This bill creates an expedited eviction procedure for landlords seeking to evict tenants for non-payment of rent or a material breach of a rental agreement.
- Why It Matters: This proposal significantly weakens tenants’ due process and severely limits their ability to defend themselves. It shortens the time for notice to tenants, for filing appearances, and for scheduling hearings. This will lead to more rapid homelessness as tenants can be locked out within 24 hours.
- HANH Position: Oppose
11:30 AM — HB 1612, relative to the use of price-fixing websites, algorithms, or other software by landlords.
- What It Does: This bill makes the use of price-fixing software by landlords a violation of the Consumer Protection Act and requires the Department of Justice to investigate complaints of the use of price-fixing software by landlords.
- Why It Matters: The United States Department of Justice has pursued and settled antitrust litigation against price-fixing entities in the housing market. It’s important that tenants and landlords operate in fair markets.
- HANH Position: Support
1:00 PM — HB 1625, relative to annual reporting on accessory dwelling unit construction and use.
- What It Does: This bill requires the office of planning and development to prepare an annual report on accessory dwelling units, including data on type, occupancy, affordability, and use, and to compile additional information to assist state and local planning for growth and development.
- Why It Matters: Good policy decisions come from good data. Policymakers would benefit from consistent data on ADU construction to help identify what is working and what is not. However, the proposal likely needs an amendment to ensure the Office of Planning and Development has the data and resources necessary to put together a report.
- HANH Position: Support Concept, Needs Amendment
1:30 PM — HB 1661, relative to expanding the housing finance authority’s community heroes program and makes an appropriation therefor.
- What It Does: This bill appropriates $1.5 million annually for a new Community Heroes program. The housing finance authority shall establish a community heroes program to provide financial assistance to support homeownership for certain essential workers. Eligible borrowers shall be defined through housing finance authority rulemaking to include health care, daycare, and elder care workers, law enforcement officers, firefighters and first responders, educators, and active members of the armed services.
- Why It Matters: New Hampshire’s housing shortage has led to potential homebuyers needing a $182,000 household income to afford the median sales price home. This program at New Hampshire Housing would help with downpayment assistance.
- HANH Position: Support
2:00 PM — HB 1662, relative to providing loan guarantees for accessory dwelling unit financing.
- What It Does: This bill requires the housing finance authority to offer loan guarantees for approved lenders who issue loans for accessory dwelling unit development projects and provides an appropriation to the housing finance authority. The loan guarantee shall not exceed $100 million. $25,000 is appropriated to New Hampshire Housing to administer the program.
- Why It Matters: ADUs are a great housing option, but they are still expensive to build. This proposal aims to help develop a stable lending environment for ADU construction loans. While well-intentioned, this proposal may be unnecessary, as lending institutions are already developing loan products without the need for a loan guarantee backstop.
- HANH Position: Monitor
2:30 PM — HB 1732, relative to housing accessibility and voucher allocation in new multi-unit developments.
- What It Does: This bill requires that any new multi-family development containing more than 6-units shall set aside at least 5 percent for “federal Mainstream Housing Voucher” and at least 5 percent of dwelling units shall be “designed and constructed in accordance with universal design standards, as defined by the United States Access Board or its successor, to ensure baseline accessibility for individuals with disabilities.”
- Why It Matters: Similar to inclusionary zoning bills, while well-intentioned, additional development requirements can lead to lower overall housing production, creating scarcity and driving up costs for the people we are trying to help. Housing Action NH supports ending source of income discrimination, which would prohibit landlords from rejecting applicants based on a tenant’s use of a housing choice voucher. Housing Action NH also supports the existing fair housing protections for individuals with disabilities.
- HANH Position: Monitor
3:00 PM — HB 1814, establishing a 10-year strategic housing and infrastructure plan.
- What It Does: This bill establishes a requirement for a 10-year strategic housing and infrastructure development plan under the Council on Housing Stability, amends RSA 4-H to broaden council membership and duties, requires municipalities to update master plans at least every 10 years, and mandates 5-year housing progress reviews tied to regional housing needs assessments and municipal housing goals.
- Why It Matters: Housing Action NH supports the concept of strategic planning and accountability towards our statewide housing goals; however, it’s unclear whether the Council on Housing Stability has the capacity to accomplish what would be assigned to them under this bill.
- HANH Position: Monitor
Senate Commerce Committee: Tuesday, January 20th, State House, Room 100
9:45 AM — SB 415, relative to a certain exemption in interest in condominium units.
- What It Does: This proposal raises the threshold for condo development that is exempt from the Department of Justice’s review process from 10 units to 50 units.
- Why It Matters: Condos offer a path towards attainable homeownership and wealth-building opportunities for Granite Staters. The New Hampshire Department of Justice currently has a robust regulatory review process that exceeds those of neighboring states and makes condo development – especially for nonprofits interested in pursuing workforce-housing-level condos – prohibitively challenging.
- HANH Position: Support
10:15 AM — SB 564, prohibiting certain municipal development restrictions.
- What It Does: No roadway length or dead-end housing cap beyond fire code requirements. More flexibility for where to place septic and utilities.
- Why It Matters: This regulatory change allows for more housing development in line with fire safety requirements.
- HANH Position: Support
10:30 AM — SB 523, establishing the registration and oversight of builders.
- What It Does: This bill establishes a board of builder registration, administratively attached to the Department of Labor. This bill requires the registration of and sets regulatory requirements for certain builders and general contractors engaged in construction-related business on any residential property.
- Why It Matters: This proposal, supported by the NH Homebuilders Association, creates trust and accountability within the residential homebuilding sector.
- HANH Position: Support
Senate Finance Committee: Tuesday, January 20th, State House, Room 103
1:15 PM — SB 541, making an appropriation for regional drinking water infrastructure.
- Why It Does: Appropriates $16.5 million for Phase 2 of the Southern New Hampshire Regional Water Project.
- Why It Matters: Adequate water and sewer infrastructure is critical to sustained housing development. While it’s not a budget year, it’s important to support these smart investments in our future.
- HANH Position: Support
1:50 PM — SB 419, relative to the housing champion designation and program and the affordable housing fund, and making appropriations therefor.
- What It Does: This proposal appropriate $5 million to Housing Champions and $10 million to the Affordable Housing Fund.
- Why It Matters: These two programs are excellent examples of successful public-private partnerships that lead to the development of more affordable and attainable housing options. While it is not a budget year, it’s important to continue to support these smart investments in our future.
- HANH Position: Support
House Housing Committee: Thursday, January 22nd, Granite Place, Room 231
9:30 AM — HB 1357, permitting in all residentially zoned areas by right the placement of newly constructed manufactured homes.
- What It Does: This bill permits newly built manufactured homes as of right on individual lots in all residential zones statewide and prohibits discriminatory zoning restrictions against them.
- Why It Matters: Manufactured homes are a more affordable form of homeownership. There is no reason to treat modern manufactured homes any differently than other types of housing construction. Concerns around community character and “fit” are rooted in the stigma associated with manufactured housing. We should end this legalized discrimination.
- HANH Position: Support
10:00 AM — HB 1065, relative to multi-family and mixed-use development in commercially zoned areas.
- What It Does: Requires “adequate infrastructure” to mean capital facilities owned and operated by the municipality, which would remove the opportunity for septic or well, even is capacity was sufficient. Allows adaptive reuse to occur in a majority but not all of commercially zoned land.
- Why It Matters: This proposal significantly weakens the impact of HB 631 passed in 2025.
- HANH Position: Oppose
10:30 AM — HB 1136, relative to accessory dwelling units.
- What This Bill Does: This proposal makes multiple changes to the new accessory dwelling unit law. It allows municipalities to require a conditional use permit or special exception for an ADU. Current law states a municipality cannot impose greater septic requirements than DES. This would allow local septic pumping ordinances to apply. Allows municipalities to prohibit ADUs when the principal unit is manufactured housing. Removes off-site parking allowance. States that parking requirements shall not be more restrictive for ADUs than for single-family dwellings. Clarifies allowable aesthetic requirements and size requirements. Allows municipalities to require a familial relationship. Allows municipalities to require ADUs meeting workforce housing or affordable housing definitions. Requires that existing structures be in compliance with other local zoning ordinances prior to conversion to an ADU – existing law allows conversion regardless, as long as the footprint stays the same.
- Why it Matters: This proposal weakens New Hampshire’s existing accessory dwelling unit law.
- HANH Position: Oppose
11:00 AM — HB 1145, relative to affordable housing investment fees.
- What It Does: Authorizes municipalities to adopt affordable housing investment fees for projects that don’t meet affordable housing requirements, creating a payment in lieu of affordability requirement.
- Why It Matters: While likely well-intentioned, unfunded inclusionary zoning policies have had a negative impact on housing production when implemented in other parts of the country, leading to more scarcity and higher costs. This proposal allows for a payment in lieu of affordable housing, which would mitigate some of the concerns around inclusionary zoning. However, there are no guidelines on the fees a municipality could charge in place of affordability, and many communities do not have an operating housing trust fund that could productively finance affordable housing with the proceeds that may be collected if this bill were implemented. Portland, Oregon, has experimented with funded inclusionary zoning, using a model that provides property tax relief to offset the cost of the affordable units, which has mitigated the decrease in overall housing construction. If you are interested in reading about Portland, OR’s model, you can do so here and here.
- HANH Position: Oppose
11:30 AM — HB 1349, relative to exemptions from multi-family zoning requirements for small or low-density communities.
- What It Does: This bill exempts municipalities with fewer than 250 residents per square mile from the statutory requirement to permit multi-family residential development on commercially zoned land, regardless of federal rural or urban designations or overlapping area classifications.
- Why It Matters: HB 631 from 2025 allowed municipalities to have broad latitude on height, density, and other local ordinances. Allowing homes near jobs is something that the entire state of New Hampshire should prioritize for future development. There are other limiting factors, such as infrastructure capacity and density, that are fine to consider, but we do not support blanket exemptions.
- HANH Position: Oppose
12:00 PM — HB 1496, repealing the cap on residential parking spaces.
- What It Does: This proposal repeals the 2024 and 2025 parking reform laws, allowing municipalities to require any number of parking spaces per dwelling unit.
- Why It Matters: Overburdensome parking requirements drive up housing costs, limit the amount of homes that can be built, and create seas of pavement. Nothing in current law prohibits a developer or homeowner from building more parking. The policy question is, who should be making the decision about how much parking is necessary? Prior to the parking reform laws, some municipalities required up to four parking spaces for a single dwelling unit.
- HANH Position: Oppose
1:00 PM — HB 1525, relative to zoning restrictions concerning dwelling unit occupancy.
- What It Does: This proposal modifies HB 457 from 2025 to require that municipalities “shall permit occupancy by at least 2 unrelated individuals per bedroom in single-family dwellings located on individual lots in most, but not necessarily all, land areas and lots in districts zoned to permit multi-family residential uses within the municipality.” The current law prohibits familial status discrimination in all zones.
- Why It Matters: Several New Hampshire municipalities had ordinances restricting the number of people who may occupy a bedroom or how many unrelated people may share a home. As nontraditional family structures become more common and seniors (and others) explore co-living strategies to save housing costs, these laws can limit housing options. Underutilization of the existing housing stock also contributes to housing demand.
- HANH Position: Oppose
1:30 PM — HB 1540, establishing uniform requirements for accessory dwelling units and providing municipalities with authority and guidance for zoning, permitting, and environmental protections.
- What It Does: This bill limits the by-right allowance of accessory dwelling units within the protected shoreland and clarifies that municipalities may permit detached units in those areas at their discretion.
- Why It Matters: It’s reasonable for municipalities to enact protections for sensitive shoreland districts; however, we do not support creating a blanket prohibition on ADUs. If the issue is septic concerns, then focus on those specific standards.
- HANH Position: Oppose/Monitor
2:00 PM — HB 1079, allowing accessory dwelling units to be built within or attached to certain non-conforming structures.
- What It Does: Adds clarification to the existing ADU law for instances of non-conforming pre-existing structures. The current law allows a broad exemption for existing non-conforming structures. The update requires those structures be constructed prior to July 1, 2025 or that the existing structure received prior approval. This is a reasonable clarification.
- HANH Position: Monitor
2:30 PM — HB 1103, allowing municipalities to utilize community revitalization tax relief credits on a wider variety of properties and structures.
- What It Does: This proposal updates the 79-E program to add flexibility. The proposal extends the office conversion provision to any commercial or industrial use. It extends the definition of a qualifying structure to include new construction. It removes the “no less than ⅓ of units shall be designated for households with an income of 80 percent AMI or less” in the Housing Opportunity Zone section to allow municipalities the flexibility to establish housing affordability criteria.
- Why It Matters: New Hampshire’s 79-E program is an important tool for communities that want to support revitalization and affordable housing development. The increased flexibility will lead to more communities utilizing the program.
- HANH Position: Support
3:00 PM — HB 1120, allowing subdivision regulations concerning water supply.
- What It Does: This bill allows the adoption of subdivision regulations that require water supply studies, determination of adequate water quantity for reasonably anticipated future water uses, and minimum on-lot private well testing requirements for subdivisions of 4 or more units. This bill also clarifies the applicant’s duty to pay associated costs.
- HANH Position: Monitor
3:30 PM — HB 1005, repealing the commission to study the historical evolution of the New Hampshire zoning enabling act.
- What It Does: This bill repeals the bipartisan commission contained in 2024’s HB 399.
- Why It Matters: The commission is tasked with studying the historical evolution of New Hampshire’s Zoning Enabling Act and providing legislative recommendations to the Governor and legislative leadership on November 1, 2026. Any recommended legislation would still need to advance through the formal legislative process. This commission provides a transparent, bipartisan, and knowledgeable forum for this important discussion.
- Housing Action NH Position: Oppose
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State House Updates:
Committee Recap
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Last week, the House Housing Committee unanimously recommended killing a number of bills that would reverse progress from last session. The Committee voted to recommend ITL the following bills:
- HR 30, finding that planning, zoning, and related regulations have been and should continue to be the responsibility of municipal government.
- HB 1098, relative to municipalities denying building or occupancy permits for property adjacent to class VI roads under certain circumstances.
- HB 1006, relative to on-site parking requirements for accessory dwelling units.
- HB 1009, relative to municipal parking requirements for residential units.
- HB 1011, repealing zoning restrictions on dwelling units.
- HB 1012, repealing accessory dwelling units and detached accessory dwelling units.
- HB 1016, eliminating the requirement that municipalities allow for manufactured housing development opportunities.
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State House Updates:
On The Floor
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The House and Senate have not scheduled their next full session days for floor votes. Typically, after acting on the retained bills, the legislative chambers will not meet again for a few weeks as they hold committee hearings on new legislative proposals. We are watching Thursday, January 29th, or Thursday, February 5th, for potential session days.
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State House Updates:
Floor Recap
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The House and Senate did not meet last week for any floor votes.
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