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 or provided to support the development.
Municipalities could still restrict residential development in zones where industrial and manufacturing uses are permitted and may require all available ground floor space or a percentage to be dedicated to retail or similar uses. The legislation stipulates that a municipality must 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 both the House and Senate and is now headed to the Governor’s desk for her consideration.
Ending discrimination against manufactured housing
House Bill 685 would require municipalities to allow by right, in all residentially zoned areas, the construction of manufactured housing. NHAR testified in favor of the bill.
“Manufactured housing” means any structure, transportable in one or more sections, which, in the traveling mode, is 8 feet or more in width and 40 feet or more in length, or when erected on site, is 320 square feet or more, and built on a permanent chassis and designed to be used as a dwelling with or without a permanent foundation when connected to required utilities. Manufactured housing does not include campers or recreation vehicles.
If a zoning ordinance contains no provisions pertaining to manufactured housing, it must be permitted as a matter of right, and no municipal permits or conditions are required other than a building permit, if necessary.
The bill has passed both the House and Senate. The Senate added a small amendment, and it is expected the House will agree to the Senate’s version of the bill.
Landlords prohibited from requiring electronic payments
House Bill 309 would prohibit landlords from requiring a tenant or prospective tenant to only pay by electronic funds transfers. Landlords would need to allow at least one other non-electronic form of payment. Proponents indicated that some tenants do not have bank accounts and therefore cannot pay by electronic means.
The bill has passed both the House and Senate and is headed to the Governor for her signature.
Increasing exemption timeframes on developments
House Bill 413 would extend the existing five-year exemption for subdivision plats to seven years; increase the period for active and substantial development from two to three years; change the building code and fire code appeals process; limit the jurisdiction of the local building code board of appeals; and allow the building code review board to appeal decisions made by the Fire Marshal and local building code board of appeals to superior court or the Housing Appeals Board. These changes would provide greater flexibility for developers, and it would lower their risk, which would enable them to take on larger projects.
The legislation has passed the House and is expected to pass the Senate later this week.
Quotes of the Week
“Today’s votes show that there continues to be strong, bipartisan support within the New Hampshire Legislature to expand access to housing options and that the Legislature understands the urgent need for real housing solutions.”
–Nick Taylor, Executive Director, Housing Action New Hampshire commenting on passage of both HB 631 and HB 685 (InDepthNH, “Senate Passes Housing Bills on Bipartisan Basis,” May 8, 2025)
“Employers across sectors struggle to fill jobs, threatening the long-term vitality of our economy. A key driver of this crisis is outdated local zoning rules, particularly excessive minimum lot size requirements that limit how much housing can be built. These rules, while originally intended to protect health and safety, now act as a barrier to building the modest, attainable homes our communities need. They inflate land costs and make it economically unfeasible for developers to build anything other than large, expensive homes.”
–Mike Skelton, CEO, NH Business and Industry Association (Union Leader, "Starter Homes Act key to tackling New Hampshire's housing crisis," May 11, 2025)
For more information, contact New Hampshire Realtors CEO Bob Quinn: bob@nhar.com.