Candidates debate housing policy: “The housing crisis is like a 1,000-piece puzzle”

This story was originally produced by the Valley News. NHPR is republishing it in collaboration with the Granite State News Collaborative.

Housing, or the lack thereof, is a top issue for Upper Valley candidates of both parties vying for seats in New Hampshire state government.

While Democrats and Republicans agree that there is a housing crisis, their proposed solutions to address it differ in typical ways. Democrats believe state and federal money play an important role, while Republicans cite cutting taxes on developers as a solution.

Both parties agree that local zoning regulations need to be examined, but are careful to emphasize their support for “local control.”

“The housing crisis is like a 1,000-piece puzzle with no picture on the lid,” said Rep. Laurel Stavis, D-Lebanon.

The Upper Valley Lake Sunapee region has a goal of adding 5,671 new housing units by 2040, based on population projections, according to the 2023 Regional Housing Needs Assessment. Sparsely populated Orange is expected to require the fewest units at 26 and Lebanon the most at 1,102 units. These numbers include both single-family homes and apartments.

“This is not just a Lebanon problem that needs to be solved,” said state Sen. Sue Prentiss, D-Lebanon, who is running for a third term. “Every community plays a role in this.”

Many towns in the Upper Valley do not have public sewer and water infrastructure, making building new homes even more expensive. Instead, Prentiss suggested that smaller cities could step in by offsetting the costs of permits in other communities and investing in public transportation.

Renovating single-family homes into duplexes or adding additional housing units is a way to bypass installing new sewer and water systems and add more homes without taking up much more space.

Two Republicans running to represent Upper Valley communities in the House of Representatives, Wayne Hemingway of Claremont and Michael Aron of Acworth, expressed support for recent changes to their communities’ zoning regulations that make it easier to build new, lower-cost housing.

Claremont changed its zoning regulations this month to allow new duplexes to be built with conditional use permits in certain residential areas. Previously, houses could be converted into semi-detached houses, but new semi-detached houses could not be built. In Acworth, an amendment passed in March allows yurts and tiny houses to be built as permanent primary residences, a more cost-effective solution compared to typical homes.

The candidates steadfastly support local control of these ordinance changes. “Every city has an idea of ​​how they want their city to develop, and the state should not dictate how cities govern themselves,” Hemingway said. “What is good for Manchester may not be good for Claremont and Croydon.”

Instead of forcing communities to change and rebuild, Democrats are emphasizing opt-in laws and incentives. This could take the form of measures that, when adopted by cities, simplify the process of changing zoning regulations or provide low-interest loans to developers and tax incentives to affordable housing developers.

Stavis, who is running uncontested for her seat in Lebanon, has proposed two housing-related bills for the upcoming session. One is to expand funding to the Affordable Housing Fund — created by the Legislature in 1988 and administered by New Hampshire Housing to facilitate the creation of affordable housing — and another is to help municipalities and developers build workforce housing help by establishing a low-interest loan and grant program.

Hemingway isn’t convinced tax incentives work because he says low- and middle-income residents will end up paying higher taxes to make up the difference.

Affordability

In addition to the housing shortage, the cost of available living space is also a problem. According to New Hampshire Housing’s 2024 Residential Rental Cost Survey Report, of all two-bedroom rental units in the state, only 13% are affordable for renters’ median household income.

According to the New Hampshire Association of, the median price of a single-family home in the state was $520,000 in September, a 6.5% increase from a year ago and the seventh straight month in which the price exceeded half a million dollars lay September market report from real estate agents.

The average household income in New Hampshire is “just 61 percent of what is needed to qualify for a median-priced home under prevailing interest rates,” the report said.

A property tax cut would lower housing costs, said Republican House candidates Aron of Acworth and Robert Merrill Jr. of Claremont.

Meanwhile, converting unused municipal land and buildings into housing is a possible solution proposed by Lebanese Democrats Karen Liot Hill, running for Executive Council, Prentiss and Stavis. Construction of group housing for public employees on a state-owned property on Barrows St. near Interstate 89 in Lebanon is expected to begin in the spring.

Liot Hill said if elected to the Executive Council, she hopes to “leave no money on the table” when it comes to federal funding for affordable housing.

“This is a big problem and we’re going to need all the resources we can get,” she said.

Obstacles

A major obstacle to building new housing is current residents’ fear of compromising the character of their communities.

“Smaller towns like to live in the country. We like not to be on top of each other,” Hemingway said. “If we allow multifamily housing in rural neighborhoods, it takes away a little bit from the aesthetics of the community.”

According to state Rep. Hope Damon, D-Croydon, up for re-election, new housing can be achieved in aesthetically pleasing ways, such as renovating large houses into apartment-style homes: “We’re not talking about high-rises, we’re talking about nice porches. We can maintain the look and feel of New England and provide affordable housing for the workforce.”

Damon sits on the New Hampshire House Special Committee on Housing, a bipartisan, temporary committee created in 2023. The committee has worked on several bills, including one that would increase the number of residential units a building can have before requiring automatic sprinklers for two units to four, making converting houses into apartments easier and less expensive.

Some residents are worried not only about what affordable housing will look like, but also about who will live in it.

“We can’t take care of our own people,” said Merrill, a Republican from Claremont. “Democrats must stop immigrants from coming to New Hampshire.”

Merrill, who moved to Claremont from Boston about eight years ago, said the housing crisis is a “migrant problem.”

Candidates from both parties pointed to the connection between staffing shortages and housing shortages.

“We are looking for housing for nurses, plumbers, mechanics, teachers and all people who are valuable to our daily lives and well-being,” Damon said.

“Without the housing available, you’re not going to attract the workforce to come to your city,” Hemingway said.

Democrats Prentiss, Damon and Rep. Brian Sullivan of Grantham all agreed that a public education campaign about why additional affordable housing is good for communities is necessary to combat opposition from neighbors.