To keep New Hampshire the best place to live, we must address our state’s housing crisis. There is a lack of housing supply of all types in New Hampshire, particularly affordable housing for our workforce. Joe and I were born and raised here and are proud to raise our family in New Hampshire. I want every Granite Stater to have that same opportunity we have had to own a home, but homeownership is out of reach for far too many families. Building more housing across our state not only addresses a supply problem, but it also helps grow our economy and create jobs.
The latest statewide housing needs assessment estimated that New Hampshire needs 89,000 affordable homes by 2040 to address our economic needs. In 1998, the statewide median price for a single-family residential home was $127,500. This year, the median home price in New Hampshire surpassed $500,000 for the first time in state history. New Hampshire also needs more apartments, condominiums, and homes available for rent. With only 13% of rentals currently affordable to our workforce, and a vacancy rate under 1%, we will need to boost supply to meet this overwhelming demand.
As Governor, I will bring together stakeholders in state and local government and the private sector to ensure that we work together to increase the supply of all types of housing so our workforce, our families, and our neighbors can continue to call New Hampshire home. Our plan will streamline the state permitting process, bring the private sector and state and local officials to the table, and strengthen the state’s partnership with local communities while respecting local decision making. We will also provide assistance with infrastructure and state and federal grant funding to make it easier and to incentivize New Hampshire communities to build more housing.
As a mom, there is nothing I want more than for my children and their children to make their homes here in New Hampshire, and I have that same hope for everyone’s children. As Governor, I will work to expand housing opportunities, help people stay in their homes, and ensure our next generation can grow and thrive here in New Hampshire.
Get Serious About Production
- Support the Affordable Housing Fund
- Sustain InvestNH and move the program under the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority to continue to invest in workforce housing solutions.
- Allocate resources in the next budget to the Affordable Housing Fund to enable larger scale development.
- Look into Sale of Unused State Land
- Conduct an audit of state properties to find unused and unnecessary state properties that could be used to develop more housing.
- Strengthen Federal-State and Private Sector Partnerships
- Leverage federal funds such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program and the Federal Housing Trust Fund to expand access to workforce housing.
- Establish and strengthen public-private partnerships through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority to incentivize efforts to develop more workforce housing.
Streamline State Agency Approvals
- DES, NHFG, and DOT play a vital role in our state but far too often, bureaucratic delays and government red tape either delay, kill, or inflate costs on housing projects. As Governor, I will work closely with these departments and our legislature to ensure that all housing related approvals are approved or denied within 60 days of application.
- Partner with state-approved third party entities to conduct reviews, paid for by the developer, to expedite the approval process and meet deadlines without straining state resources.
- The state should adopt a lean manufacturing model to the permit process to eliminate delays and barriers and to streamline the process. We can improve the permitting process at the state level to expand opportunities for more affordable housing without compromising on environmental and safety concerns.
- Create an advisory board to identify barriers in the agency approval process and provide specific recommendations to the Governor and Housing Stability Council on exact measures the State could undertake to open up the approval process for housing, road cuts and regulatory measures.
Partner with New Hampshire Communities
- Roll out the Housing Champions Program
- Work with the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs to launch the Housing Champions program passed by the Legislature and include support for local infrastructure needs.
- Enable municipalities to use economic incentives like RSA 79-E, TIFF districts, and the CDIP tax credit to attract investment in the housing they need.
Dismantle Regulatory Barriers
- Work with the new Special Committee on Housing established by the Legislature to address the regulatory barriers to serving special needs populations.
- Strengthen the Joint Legislative Committee on Administrative Rules to provide better oversight of rulemaking and give input on the economic impact and potential cost barriers to further development of housing.
- Provide technical assistance to new developers seeking to address key housing needs like housing for people with disabilities, supportive housing, and housing for older adults.
- Remove barriers to construction and expand opportunities for the use of accessory dwelling units to allow families to stay together.
Support Rural Solutions
- New Hampshire is proud of its natural landscape and rural character. As Governor, I will ensure that our USDA rural developments are preserved and support “gentle density” solutions like barn conversions and affordable historic housing conversions.
Address Housing Stability
- Veterans
- Make sure our veterans have access to all the tools available to them to remain stably housed and supported within their communities.
- Continue to work with Easterseals to ensure the Franklin Military & Veterans Campus is completed to serve our veterans.
- Enable Faith-Based Institutions to Help
- Support faith-based groups providing shelter and food security.
- Support efforts to enable faith-based institutions to help create housing solutions.
- Expand the Council on Housing Stability to include additional private developers and lending institutions and create a staff position dedicated to leading the Council.
- Partner with municipalities on state and federal funding to assist with shelter, mental health, and substance use disorder recovery programs to keep people healthy and in their homes, including supporting and strengthening New Hampshire’s Doorways Program.
Make Homeownership More Affordable
- Not only should we expand opportunities for those who want to rent or buy their own homes, but we also need to ensure that people currently living in their homes can afford to keep them. Inflation, rising energy costs, and rising property taxes make it difficult for those on a fixed income to stay in their homes.
- Build and pass a responsible balanced budget that passes on additional resources locally which should be used for property tax relief. Governor Sununu and the legislature did this during the last biennium by expanding the local share returned to communities through the rooms and meals tax, but unfortunately, many communities did not pass along the additional state dollars to local property taxpayers.
- Energy prices in New England are the highest in the nation because we do not have enough energy supply. New Hampshire needs to increase supply of more energy of all forms, while not adopting additional mandates that drive up energy costs. New Hampshire should position itself to be an early adopter of new energy sources and technologies such as hydrogen and small modular nuclear.
- As Governor, I will also ensure the state advocates for additional federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Funds (LIHEAP) and administers the Fuel Assistance Program efficiently.