Increasing Affordable Housing

The past few months have provided many stories about NH’s housing shortage, from skyrocketing prices to homelessness.

While legislators won’t start filing 2022 bill requests until mid-September, it’s safe to say that affordable housing will be on the legislative agenda next year. Here’s a preview of housing policy legislators are likely to consider in 2022.

Speeding up Local Decisions
Many policymakers believe that the state could streamline the local approval process for housing development. One option would be setting time limits for planning board and zoning board final decisions. For example, state law could require zoning boards to make a final decision on any application within 90 days. The state could similarly require courts to prioritize planning and zoning board appeals and issue a final decision within 120 days.  

These time limits can be controversial for local control advocates. That’s one reason legislators voted against HB 586, a big affordable housing bill, in 2021.

Requiring More Documentation
HB 586 and other housing bills would add another requirement for municipalities: publish all local fees for development, either online or somewhere publicly accessible during business hours.  

While on the topic of transparency, HB 586 would have required “specific written findings of fact” any time a board denies an application. If a board failed to provide specific reasons for denying an application, that would be grounds to reverse the decision in court.  

To help stave off frivolous appeals, the state could allow courts to require the filing of a bond when someone appeals a planning or zoning board decision.  

Changing Zoning Laws
The state could also pass laws to essentially override local zoning laws or force towns to accept certain housing.

A 2021 bill, HB 588, would have required towns to address tiny homes in their zoning laws. The House of Representatives ran out of time to act on HB 588, defacto killing the legislation. There could be a new approach to that issue in 2022.

Lawmakers have also considered extending any local incentives for housing for older persons to workforce housing. Those incentives could include increased density, reduced lot size, expedited approval and so on.

Training for Local Officials
Some of these policy proposals suggest that local officials are intentionally obstructing affordable housing development.

While that may be the case in some towns, sometimes local elected officials just lack knowledge and experience in housing development. That’s why one idea is to require the Office of Strategic Initiatives to provide free training to all planning and zoning board members. A similar proposal would require the state to provide model ordinances and other zoning and planning tools to municipalities.

Funding for Municipalities
The state could also offer a carrot instead of a stick to municipalities by creating incentives for housing development. In 2019, the governor’s housing task force presented the idea of a “housing champion” program for municipalities. If a municipality qualifies as a housing champion, it would have first dibs on state funding for economic development. Housing champion municipalities would be required to have zoning ordinances that encourage housing production, particularly workforce housing.

Municipalities can already establish Municipal Economic Development and Revitalization Districts to raise funding locally. The state could expand this program to cover workforce housing and other residential development.

Expanding Tax Breaks
The state could try motivating private affordable housing developers with tax incentives. The Community Revitalization Tax Relief Incentive allows towns to grant property tax breaks for rehab projects. One proposal would double the length of time for these tax credits, with the longest breaks for workforce housing. The state could also add Business Profits Tax breaks for workforce housing developers.

Citizens Count will also keep track of affordable housing legislation on our website, CitizensCount.org. Visit the “Affordable Housing and Property Rights” topic page for the latest bills.

Anna Brown is director of research and analysis at Citizens Count, a nonprofit that provides NH residents with information about issues and candidates, promotes the civil exchange of opinions and connects citizens with elected officials. For more information, visit citizenscount.org.