1/23/26: Housing Matters Newsletter

Welcome back to our weekly newsletter!

Thank you to all who advocated on pro-homes bills last week – with over 30 housing-related proposals, it was a busy week!

In disappointing news, the House Housing Committee passed HB 1196, which would repeal the Housing Champions Program, on a 10-8 vote over concerns that it was an unnecessary government program. In only its first few years, the Housing Champions Program is already showing signs of success. In 2024, the 28 Housing Champion communities approved 2,643 units, or 45% of the total units approved statewide.

Housing Champions is an incentive-based program that rewards communities taking pro-housing steps with a “housing champion” designation, which gives them access to infrastructure grants and other supports. While the grant portion of the program was not included in the FY 26-27 state budget, communities are still drawing down existing resources, and the program’s framework would allow future legislatures to appropriate additional resources to the grant program. You can read our statement and additional background on the committee vote here.

We expect this bill to go to the House floor on Thursday, February 5th. We will circulate talking points and advocacy actions next week.

If you were forwarded this newsletter and would like to receive future updates, you can sign up here.

Best,

Nick Taylor

Executive Director

Housing Action NH

nick@housingactionnh.org

Federal Updates

Earlier this week, Congressional Appropriators reached a bipartisan agreement on the Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) spending provisions. The provisions passed the House and will go to the Senate next week.

The summary below is prepared by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. You can read more from NLIHC here.

Congressional Appropriators released this morning (January 20) the text of a final fiscal year (FY) 2026 spending bill for Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development (THUD) programs. Overall, the bill provides an approximately $7.3 billion increase over the previous fiscal year, for a total of $77.3 billion for HUD programs, plus an additional $6.9 billion in offsetting receipts. Key rental and homelessness assistance programs received funding increases, including some of NLIHC’s top priorities:  

• $34.9 billion is provided for renewing Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) contracts, including the Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) program. This level should be sufficient to ensure the renewal of existing TBRA contracts. 
• Appropriators also provided about $601 million for new Tenant Protection Vouchers (TPVs), a $264 million increase from the previous year. The bill includes language allowing Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) to use TPVs to help transition families who currently receive rental assistance through the Emergency Housing Voucher (EHV) program to new assistance. 
• The Homeless Assistance Grants (HAG) program would receive over $4.4 billion, a $336 million boost from the previous year. The bill also includes language that requires HUD to renew Continuum of Care (CoC) grants expiring in the first quarter of 2026 (January-March) for 12 months, and creates a timeline for HUD to renew expiring grants throughout the year, if HUD has not issued awards under a new Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO). Additionally, pursuant to preliminary court order, HUD announced the FY24-25 CoC NOFO is open to process all eligible renewals. More information can be found here.
• Appropriators would maintain funding for the Indian Housing Block Grant (IHBG) program, at just over $1.1 billion; however, the bill provided slightly less funding for the IHBG-Competitive program, which received $125 million, a $25 million decrease from the last fiscal year. 
• The Eviction Protection Grant Program (EPGP) would receive $7.5 million, a drop from the $20 million provided in last year’s bill.  

State House Updates:

In The Committee Room

* 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. *

House Housing Committee: Tuesday, January 27th, Granite Place, Room 231

9:00 AM — HB 1112, relative to snow removal responsibilities in residential lease agreements.

• What It Does: Requires that snow removal be included in lease agreements. If no process is established in the lease, the responsibility shall rest with the property owner or landlord.
• HANH Position: Monitor 

9:30 AM — HB 1143, relative to the remediation of mold in rental housing.

• What It Does: This bill adds mold infestation as a minimum standard violation for rental housing and authorizes municipal officers to inspect, investigate, and enforce remediation for significant mold conditions.
• HANH Position: Support

10:00 AM — HB 1171, relative to eviction safeguards for tenants whose Social Security payments are disrupted.

• What It Does: This bill establishes a 90-day grace period for residential tenants who miss rent payments due to an unexpected interruption in their monthly Social Security benefits.
• HANH Position: Monitor 

10:30 AM — HB 1336, allowing exceptions to the cap on residential security deposits for applicants not meeting standard approval criteria.

• What It Does: This bill allows landlords to require a security deposit of up to 2 months’ rent from applicants who do not meet specified approval criteria, establishes disclosure and re-screening requirements, and clarifies conditions under which the higher deposit may be removed or refunded.
• Why It Matters: With 1 in 4 New Hampshire households lacking $2,000 in emergency savings, asking potential residents to come up with two months’ rent to secure an apartment is unreasonable.
• HANH Position: Oppose

11:00 AM — HB 1371, prohibiting application fees for residential rental agreements.

• What It Does: This bill prohibits application fees for residential rental agreements.
• Why it Matters: If a renter is applying for multiple different apartments, these application fees can add up quickly, putting unnecessary financial strain on someone looking for a home.
• HANH Position: Support

11:30 AM — HB 1375, prohibiting landlords from charging more than one application fee per tenant every 12 months.

• What It Does: This bill prohibits landlords from collecting more than one application fee from the same prospective tenant within a 12-month period, regardless of how many units the tenant applies for or leases.
• Why It Matters: Application fees can add up quickly, placing unnecessary financial strain on someone seeking a home.
• HANH Position: Support

1:30 PM — HB 1553, relative to pet-related fees and rent in residential tenancies.

• What It Does: This bill limits monthly pet rent to one percent of the unit’s rent and prohibits nonrefundable pet fees, with some exceptions.
• HANH Position: Monitor 

2:00 PM — HB 1709, relative to prohibiting the rental of residential property to individuals unlawfully present in the United States.

• What It Does: This bill requires individuals applying for residential rental housing in New Hampshire to disclose if they are not United States citizens or lawfully present in the United States. The proposal includes a list of identification that proves citizenship. The penalty for violating this law is a Class B felony.
• What It Matters: Landlords are already allowed to do background checks and enter into rental agreements as they see fit. Housing Action NH is concerned about the precedent that allowing for a specific population to be prohibited from having a home would set, and about using the housing market to engage in law enforcement activities.
• HANH Position: Oppose 

2:30 PM — CACR 16, relating to property. Providing that individuals may sleep on property they own or have a legal right to occupy.

• What It Does: Affirms the individual right of persons to sleep on property they own or are legally entitled to occupy, ensuring protection from regulations or ordinances that would otherwise criminalize such activity.
• HANH Position: Monitor 

Senate Commerce Committee: Tuesday, January 27th, State House, Room 100

10:15 AM — SB 508, relative to the zoning board of adjustments appeal period.

• What It Does: This bill requires that all grounds for appeal must be stated in the initial notice to the zoning board of adjustments and outlines revision of plans.
• Why It Matters: Predictability and clear metrics are important for the development process. Uncertain timelines and the ability to continuously revisit or update appeals delay approved projects from moving forward.
• HANH Position: Support

10:30 AM — SB 509, preventing municipalities from limiting dead-end road length if compliant with the state fire code.

• What It Does: This bill prohibits municipalities from imposing length restrictions on dead-end roads or cul-de-sacs in subdivision approvals or building permits when the proposed road design complies with applicable state fire code requirements.
• Why It Matters: Regulatory restrictions on development should focus on health and safety, and be aligned with the state fire code.
• HANH Position: Support

House Executive Departments and Administration Committee: Wednesday, January 28th, Granite Place, Room 231

10:00 AM — HB 1159, relative to updating the state building code.

• What It Does: This bill is the annual building code update.
• HANH Position: Monitor

10:30 AM — HB 1180, updating the definition of the state building code to include the International Energy Conservation Code 2024.

• What It Does: Updates the state building code to include the International Energy Conservation Code 2024.
• HANH Position: Monitor

11:00 AM — HB 1004, exempting certain dwelling units from automatic sprinkler system requirements.

• What It Does: Removes the requirement for automatic sprinklers in residential buildings for up to four dwelling units.
• Why It Matters: Housing advocates regularly look to building and fire code requirements to ensure the data aligns with the cost tradeoff. In a previous legislative session, Housing Action NH supported removing the sprinkler requirement in 3 and 4 unit conversations, provided that other life safety conditions were met.
• HANH Position: Monitor

State House Updates:

Committee Recap

This week, the House Housing Committee made the following recommendations:

• HB 1662, relative to providing loan guarantees for accessory dwelling unit financing (ITL 16-2).
• HB 1196, repealing the state housing champion designation and grant program (OTP 10-8). HANH supported ITL.
• HB 1405, relative to the housing finance authority’s affordable housing guarantee program (ITL 10-8). HANH supported OTP.
• HB 1612,  relative to the use of price-fixing websites, algorithms, or other software by landlords (ITL 10-8).
• HB 1661, relative to expanding the housing finance authority’s community heroes program and makes an appropriation therefor (ITL 10-8). HANH supported OTP.
• HB 1625, relative to annual reporting on accessory dwelling unit construction and use (ITL 16-2). HANH supported OTP (with an amendment).
• HB 1496, repealing the cap on residential parking spaces (ITL 16-0). HANH supported ITL.
• HB 1349,  relative to exemptions from multi-family zoning requirements for small or low-density communities (ITL 16-0). HANH supported ITL.

State House Updates:

On The Floor

The House will meet for its next session on February 5th.

The Senate will meet on Thursday, January 29th, for its next session. There are two housing-related bills on the consent calendar:

• SB 490, establishing a task force to assess the development of housing at Great Bay Community College and authorizing the college the right to use vacant property for the purpose of developing housing, received a 3-0 ought to pass recommendation. Housing Action NH supported the OTP motion.
• SB 471, relative to affordable housing investment fees, received a 4-1 inexpediate to legislate recommendation. Housing Action NH supported the ITL motion on SB 471.

State House Updates:

Floor Recap

The House and Senate did not meet last week for any floor votes.