Kelly Ayotte admits that in today’s market, it would have been unlikely for her and her husband to have afforded their first home.

They were in their 30s, newly married and buying a condominium. From there, they purchased their first house. Nowadays, the idea of the starter home they bought is nonexistent, she said. And with median sale prices of $500,000, she doesn’t see it returning until the state has more housing available to inevitably lower costs.

“We’re not going to revive that starter home path. We really have a supply and demand problem,” she said. “I’m not even sure right now, as we look at how much things cost, it would have been difficult for us to start with that first home and that’s with two people working. So I think that we’re only going to make this more affordable if we have more housing.”

To Ayotte, solving the state’s housing crisis involves pulling a series of policy levers. Some are in her hands. Others are left to the legislature to hash out. And the last few require buy-in from local communities.

But she’s hoping they’ll all get pulled because the consensus is clear: Housing is the greatest issue facing New Hampshire right now.

An annual poll on affordable housing from Saint Anselm’s Center for Ethics in Society found that 75 percent of respondents agreed that more affordable housing was needed in their community. Over 60 percent said the state should do more to encourage municipalities to remove barriers to new housing.

“I met so many people in New Hampshire from all different backgrounds, from all different geographies, that were concerned about housing. Can I afford housing? Can I afford rent? I want to get that first home, where can I find the first home?” said Ayotte. “This is really about our future.”

In the State House

After House Speaker Sherman Packard appointed a special committee on housing last legislative session, many advocates looked to 2024 as the ”year of housing.”

A record number of bills – from landlord-tenant law to sprinkler requirements in multi-family homes - were introduced. Only a handful made it to the governor’s desk, though.

This year, Nick Taylor, the executive director of Housing Action New Hampshire, hopes for a take-two.

Any new attempt will arrive with a number of changes. First is the recognition that the housing predicament requires immediate attention if the state wants to attract new workers and provide affordable options for young families. Second comes from a clean slate of many new state leaders – from Ayotte to Sharon Carson, the new senate president. Third is that the once-special housing committee is now a permanent fixture until disbanded.

“Leaders are coming together, more organizations who have either been on the outskirts of this fight, or been starting to dip their toes in the water, or taking that next step in leveraging their networks, bringing people together for this upcoming session,” said Taylor.

Lawmakers are expected to take up accessory dwelling units again – a hot-button issue that made it out of the House year but was voted down by Senate Republicans. Last session, Rep. Joe Alexander, a Goffstown Republican and chair of the housing committee, proposed expanding regulations to allow for two-bedroom units by right. This year, he has filed one bill to modify the definition of an accessory dwelling unit and Rep. Ellen Read, a Newmarket Democrat, has also filed legislation to amend uses allowed by right.

“Over a decade ago, New Hampshire was a leader on their first ADU law, which created some baseline standards at the state level,” Alexander said. “It’s time to update that.”

Ayotte will introduce her first budget shortly after her inauguration, as well. In it, Taylor is hoping for appropriations to the state Affordable Housing Fund, and a few bills propose increasing those contributions with revenue from the real estate transfer tax.

Rep. Bob Lynn, a Windham Republican, has also filed a proposal to allow landlords to end a tenant’s lease at the expiration of its term. It’s an issue he’s proposed several times before – and stems from a personal pet peeve, he said, with New Hampshire law stating that a lease can only end for “good cause.”

These causes include violations of a lease, a desire to renovate the unit or needing to rent it to a family member.

Last session, Lynn argued the tweak is necessary to protect landlords who hold little power to remove a tenant if wanted. Housing advocates said the proposal would increase homelessness in a tight rental market.

The new standing housing committee will see a broader scope of bills assigned. Previously, housing bills were scattered across the State House – with the judiciary committee taking up landlord-tenant law while the municipal and county government committee contemplated local land use adjustments.

Now, all proposals will be heard by the new group, which Alexander will chair again.

Municipal level

While it’s clear the state needs more housing – with estimates of 60,000 units by 2030 and 90,000 by 2040 – building developments in certain communities is easier said than done.

Joe Tamposi has experienced this firsthand. Tamposi, a developer for Tamposi Brothers Holdings, just settled with the town of Brookline, allowing him to build 98 units of housing.

Shortly after Tamposi presented plans for a 80-unit affordable housing development in 2021, Brookline set a special town meeting to approve a one-year moratorium on residential developments that could impact school enrollment numbers. At the conclusion of the year, the town also passed amended workforce housing ordinances, increased minimum square footage requirements and introduced a measure to limit building permit applications effectively killing the development.

Tamposi, who just finished the first phase of a Pembroke Road project in Concord, sued the town, stating that their opposition to the development violated the federal Fair Housing Act.

The settlement, which was reached earlier this month, will allow Tamposi Brothers to build 98 units of housing in two phases – first, 58 units of affordable housing for older adults and the second, 30 units of affordable housing without an age restriction. The development will also include 10 market-rate units and a donation of 50 acres of land to the town. The town spent over $600,000 in legal fees.

Aside from specifics, Tamposi hopes the deal will send a message statewide.

“I hope that other municipalities can learn from this and really use it as an example of one, what not to do, but also what they can do from the very beginning to work with developers to help create affordable housing,” he said. “Every single unit that gets built in any town in New Hampshire is another opportunity for a deserving household to have a safe, decent and affordable place to call home.”

Rebecca Livengood, a partner at Relman Colfax, which is a Washington D.C.-based civil rights law firm, has litigated a number of similar cases challenging a community’s opposition to affordable housing and the discriminatory precedent it sets.

“The settlement shows Brookline underwent an expensive and long legal fight before coming to a settlement that I think is really wonderful for the town, wonderful for the prospective residents of affordable housing there,” she said. “I hope the lesson for other towns is not to give in to the stereotypes that lead residents sometimes to oppose these developments.”

Opposition to affordable housing developments has also arisen with the state’s new Housing Champions Designation program.

The program is designed to reward towns and cities that meet the criteria for being accepted to affordable housing with further infrastructure and planning grants for future development.

However, communities like Warner and Laconia voted against applying for the designation – fearful that doing so would change the makeup of the town or city and require them to adhere to state guidelines.

Concord was one of 18 communities awarded the designation and trumpeted the news.

The city currently has 2,300 units in the works after plans to build a 1,000-unit project near the Merrimack River and the Wheelabrator trash incinerator was stalled due to negotiations with the city over rezoning it from industrial to allow for residential construction.