Senate Commerce Committee: Tuesday, January 28th, State House Room 100 9:30 am — Senate Bill 81, increasing the annual real estate transfer tax revenue contribution and making an appropriation to the affordable housing fund. - What The Bill Does: This proposal would increase the annual appropriation from the revenue generated by the Real Estate Transfer Tax (RETT) to the Affordable Housing Fund and make a one-time $25 million appropriation to the Affordable Housing Fund. Currently, the first $5 million collected each year from the RETT goes directly to the Affordable Housing Fund. This proposal would allocate the first $10 million collected each year to the Affordable Housing Fund. It would not change the RETT tax rate.
- Why It Matters: The Affordable Housing Fund is the state’s most impactful tool for financing affordable and workforce housing development. New Hampshire Housing administers the fund, which provides low-interest loans and grants to increase the supply of below-market-rate housing.
- This is a high priority bill for Housing Action NH
10:15 am – Senate Bill 84, relative to zoning procedures concerning residential housing. - What The Bill Does: This proposal sets basic lot size standards for single-family-zoned residential land. The square footage standards vary depending on whether the land is served by public water and sewer infrastructure. In areas without water and sewer infrastructure, the basic standards only apply to a majority of land rather than all single-family-zoned land. Nothing in this bill overrides applicable Department of Environmental Services regulations for septic/well or municipal limits on infrastructure capacity.
- Why It Matters: New Hampshire—and the United States as a whole—has made it increasingly difficult to build starter single-family homes by requiring large lots. An analysis of the New Hampshire Zoning Atlas found that only 15% of buildable land allowed for smaller single-family homes, which are well-suited for downsizing and starter homes.
Senate Finance Committee: Tuesday, January 28th, State House Room 103 1:25 pm — Senate Bill 113, making appropriations to the Department of Health and Human Services for homeless services and homeless prevention. - What The Bill Does: This proposal allocates $12 million per year to the Department of Health and Human Services for shelter contracts and $3 million per year to eviction prevention efforts through the housing stabilization fund.
- Why It Matters: According to the latest State of Homelessness Report, New Hampshire experienced the highest percentage increase in its Point in Time (PIT) Count of any state in the nation, with a 52.1% increase. The number of people in families experiencing homelessness during this same time period increased by nearly 50%, and the number of youth experiencing homelessness grew by almost 40%. Chronic homelessness, defined as a person with a disabling condition who has been unhoused for over 12 months, has increased by 51.8% in NH between 2022-2023, and by 150% since 2019. According to Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) data, the number of people age 55+ has increased by 23.4% from 2019-2023, making it one of the fastest-growing demographics.
- This is a high priority bill for Housing Action NH
House Housing Committee: Tuesday, January 28th, Legislative Office Building Room 305 10:00 am — House Bill 572, establishing the “partners in housing” program, a low-interest loan and grant program under the housing champions fund to assist municipalities, counties, and developers in building workforce housing. - What The Bill Does: This bill builds off of the existing Housing Champions Program administered by the Department of Business and Economic Affairs by creating a loan program for housing development on municipally owned land.
- Why It Matters: In many communities throughout New Hampshire, there is buildable municipally owned land. This proposal seeks to provide funding through the Housing Champions Program to assist communities in their effort to turn that available land into workforce housing.
10:30 am — House Bill 604, relative to a loan forgiveness program for low-income homeowners to build new accessory dwelling units or renovate existing structures into accessory dwelling units. - What The Bill Does: This bill creates a new loan forgiveness program at New Hampshire Housing within the Affordable Housing Fund for lower-income homeowners to develop accessory dwelling units (ADUs).
- Why It Matters: ADUs can be a great form of gentle density attainable housing, but the upfront cost of developing an ADU often puts them out of reach for homeowners without available savings. The program, funded through existing Affordable Housing Fund dollars, would attempt to reduce that barrier.
1:00 pm — House Bill 382, removing authority for municipalities to regulate mandatory on-site parking requirements - What The Bill Does: This bill would eliminate municipalities’ ability to enact or enforce off-street parking requirements.
- Why It Matters: Off-street parking requirements can hinder development by limiting the number of possible housing units and creating large seas of asphalt parking lots. The argument in favor of eliminating all government parking requirements is that it’s not the government’s role to regulate off-street parking and that developers will still build parking—just right-size it based on their needs and market research.
2:00 pm — House Bill 628, prohibiting landlords from discriminating against prospective tenants holding certain vouchers under the housing choice voucher program - What The Bill Does: This bill prohibits landlords from rejecting a rental applicant solely because they have a Housing Choice Voucher.
- Why It Matters: Housing Choice Voucher recipients still need to find a place to live, which can be very difficult in this challenging housing market. Under current New Hampshire law, a landlord could reject an applicant solely because they are paying with a voucher.
Senate Ways and Means Committee: Wednesday, January 29th, State House Room 100 9:00 am — Senate Bill 158, raising the funding cap for the New Hampshire community development finance authority. - What The Bill Does: This bill doubles the Community Development Finance Authority’s tax credit program from $5 million to $10 million per year. The tax credit program supports community economic development projects, including housing development.
- Why It Matters: The CDFA tax credit program is a successful program that receives more applications than it can award each year. This increase will allow CDFA to provide credits specifically for the redevelopment of historic buildings into housing. The tax credit has supported 31 housing projects in the last 6 years.
- This is a high priority bill for Housing Action NH
House Municipal and County Government Committee: Thursday, January 30th, Legislative Office Building Room 301-303 1:00 pm — House Bill 432, relative to recovery housing. - What The Bill Does: This bill would provide clarity on the definition of recovery housing by stating that recovery homes are residential facilities subject to the same fire codes and zoning ordinances as other residential homes. It would align the statutory definition of recovery house with existing state fire and building codes, as well as the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration definition.
- Why It Matters: This would provide cities and towns with the clarity and guidance they need to help support the development of needed recovery housing, avoid lawsuits, and ultimately better position their communities and New Hampshire as a whole to overcome the ongoing addiction crisis.
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