House Bill 410 states that municipalities may adopt an "extraordinary restriction of residential property" only if the restriction is narrowly tailored to serve a compelling government interest in public health or safety. To adopt such restrictions, a town would need to provide quantitative or empirical evidence that the ordinance serves a compelling health or safety purpose.
For the purposes of this section of law, “extraordinary restriction of residential property” would mean any ordinance or regulation that contains any of the following:
- Any minimum square footage requirement for a dwelling or unit in excess of 200 square feet or the square footage required to meet the state building code, whichever is greater.
- Any lot size requirement greater than 5 gross acres per primary dwelling unit, or greater than 0.5 gross acres per primary dwelling unit if the lot is served by off-site municipal water and sewer systems.
- Any road frontage requirement greater than 200 feet per primary dwelling unit, or greater than 50 feet if the lot is served by off-site water and sewer systems.
- Prohibition on residential use in areas zoned for commercial use.
- Restriction on in-home business use in areas zoned for residential use, provided such business use does not violate noise, pollution, garbage, or light ordinances.
- Restriction on whether any dwelling unit is constructed on- or off-site.
- Local amendments to the state building code or state fire code regarding materials or methods of construction, which impact residential buildings of not more than 4 units.
Any extraordinary restriction of residential property could not be enforced unless the ordinance were to meet this new standard of scrutiny.
The bill has passed out of the House of Representatives and is now in front of the Senate Commerce Committee.
Allowing multi-family housing in commercial zones
House Bill 631 would require municipalities to allow multi-family residential development on commercially zoned land, provided that adequate infrastructure, including roads, water, and sewage systems are available. Municipalities could still restrict residential development in zones where industrial and manufacturing uses are permitted and may result in impacts that are incompatible with residential use, such as air, noise, odor, or transportation.
Towns would be required to provide an exemption to any requirements regarding setbacks, height, or frontage of a building being converted to multi-family or mixed-use through adaptive reuse, provided that the building’s floor area, height, and setbacks do not change.
The bill has passed the House of Representatives and is currently being debated in the Senate Commerce Committee.
New reporting requirements on permits
Senate Bill 74 would require that, beginning on Feb. 28, 2026, all state departments administering permitting programs that regulate the use of real property or the construction or operation of stationary structures, infrastructure, or facilities on real property must report in writing to the legislature all the previous year’s permitting activity. The reports must identify each permitting program administered by the department and detail the categories of permits the department has the authority to issue within each program.
The intent is to give legislators a better sense of the time period various permits require from application to approval or denial. The bill has passed the Senate, and the House Executive Departments voted unanimously last week to approve the bill. Final House action is expected before the end of the month.
Quote of the Week
“Funding for the Affordable Housing Fund is really critical. If that fund does not receive money in the state budget, then there are just a lot of new affordable homes that are really aimed squarely at where the need is most acute that are not going to get built, and so, a lot of federal resources that will not be leveraged.”
–NH Housing Finance Authority CEO Rob Dapice, commenting on the NH House of Representatives removing $10 million from the Governor’s budget proposal for housing (“Some Positive in New Hampshire’s housing outlook amid the chaos,” Manchester Ink Link, April 21, 2025)
For more information, contact New Hampshire Realtors CEO Bob Quinn: bob@nhar.com.