Last week, the Senate Commerce Committee voted 4-1 to recommend passage of Senate Bill 84, relative to minimum lot sizes for residential housing. You can read more about the bill here. NHAR believes this bill, more than any other, might move the needle on increasing housing inventory in the state.
NHAR is working with a coalition which includes NH Business and Industry Association, NH Home Builders, NH Housing Finance Authority, developers, and housing advocates to pass SB 84.
If you have not already, please respond to the Call for Action here. It takes just a few seconds and could make all the difference as we work to bring more housing opportunities to the state.
Bill would ban real estate purchases and leases from certain foreign nationals
Senate Bill 162 would place restrictions on the acquisition and leasing of real property by specific foreign principals on or around certain military installations. The bill states that no foreign principal from China, Russia, Iran, Syria, or North Korea is permitted to acquire ownership interest in real property or lease property within 10 miles of any protected facility.
Protected facilities include the New Hampshire National Guard and Army Aviation Support Facility in Concord, the?Readiness Center of the 197th Artillery Brigade in Manchester, Pease Air National Guard Base in Portsmouth, the New Boston Space Force Station in New Boston, and the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard.
The bill requires every person or entity who leases or acquires property within 10 miles of a protected facility to file with the NH Attorney General, within one business day, a notarized “qualified purchaser affidavit” signed under penalty of perjury, attesting that the person acquiring an ownership or controlling interest, or leasing the property, is not a foreign principal.
Since this bill would impact thousands of real estate transactions and leases, NHAR made several suggestions to ensure that sellers, landlords and Realtors would not unwittingly violate the affidavit requirement and be subject to fines or civil penalties.
The Senate Commerce Committee is expected to take action on the bill later this month.
Dam tax sinks
House Bill 629 would assess an annual fee of $1.58 per foot of linear shoreline on waterfronts maintained by a state-owned dam. The revenue would be deposited in the state’s dam maintenance fund to be used for the operation, maintenance, and repair of state-owned dams.
The NH Dept. of Environmental Services (DES) indicated that 34 state-owned dams are a significant hazard and are at risk of failure, and testified that the current appropriation into the dam maintenance fund is not sufficient to pay for repairs. NHAR testified in opposition to the fee, arguing that dam maintenance expenditures benefit the larger community and state economy, and therefore costs should not simply be borne by shoreline owners.
The House Resources Committee agreed with NHAR and rejected the shoreline fee. However, the committee voted to retain HB 629 to explore other options to fund the program.
Quote of the Week
"There is no greater pressure weighing on the economic success of our state today, than our
housing market. ... We also need to combat this affordability crisis so that our kids stay, so that our retirees stay, and so our communities keep old faces, and welcome new ones.
"This starts with streamlining our processes to get builders’ answers faster, so that their projects are not unnecessarily bogged down in bureaucracy. Which is why I am announcing a plan to streamline the permitting process to ensure it takes no more than 60 days and puts the burden on the state to meet this timeline or forfeit the right to act."
–Gov. Kelly Ayotte in her budget address to the NH Legislature, Feb 13, 2025.
For more information, contact New Hampshire Realtors CEO Bob Quinn: bob@nhar.com.