Innovative Solutions for the Crisis in New Hampshire
New Hampshire is suffering a critical shortage of housing that is causing hardship and pain for individuals, families, communities, and businesses across the State. The shortage of housing has caused prices for home ownership and rentals to become unaffordable for people from all walks of life, including young couples seeking to plant roots in NH, seniors hoping to age in place, and employees planning to take jobs with NH businesses. The shortage has become so severe that our communities are facing dramatic increases in homelessness, housing instability, and overcrowding.
The Center’s Housing We Need initiative works with partners across the State to facilitate research, education, dialogue, and collaboration:
Research
The Center for Ethics leads the New Hampshire Zoning Atlas (NHZA) project, with the support of NH Housing and the State Office of Planning and Development. You can find the updated interactive Atlas, datasets, and more NHZA resources here.
Since 2020, the Center for Ethics has conducted an annual statewide survey of voter attitudes toward New Hampshire’s housing crisis. Results from the most recent survey can be found here. Please contact ethics@anselm.edu for past survey results.
Education
The Center engages experts and community leaders in order to bring awareness to the affordable housing crisis--its causes, effects, and possible solutions. Sign up for our newsletter to hear about upcoming housing-related speaker events, moderated panel discussions, webinars, and seminars.
Most recently, in spring 2024 the Center hosted housing experts from the Pew Charitable Trust to discuss: “How Are Policymakers Improving Access to Lower-Cost Homes?” Check out highlights from this event here.
Dialogue & Collaboration
Since 2018, we have hosted an annual Housing We Need Roundtable Forum that brings together stakeholders to discuss solutions to the state’s housing crisis. The Forum includes panel and roundtable discussions, keynote presentations, Home Matters Awards from Housing Action NH, and more. The 2023 Forum featured Dr. Jim O’Connell, who discussed healthcare and homelessness in Boston.
The Center also hosts discussions for subsets of stakeholders to help them tackle housing-related challenges they face. This includes building and fire code officials, NH Realtors, and recovery housing advocates. Email us at ethics@anselm.edu for help in convening a dialogue for your community.
Housing Stories
The Center for Ethics has been talking to people around New Hampshire about their experiences with housing, in order to gain a clearer understanding of how the housing shortage affects people in our communities. You can read some of their stories here.
See all of the housing stories
Resources
New Hampshire Zoning Atlas. The Zoning Atlas is a comprehensive database and interactive online map cataloging and portraying zoning district-level land use regulations affecting housing construction across the entire land area of the state. This tool is a collaboration of the Center for Ethics in Society at Saint Anselm College, NH Housing, the NH Department of Business & Economic Affairs, and the National Zoning Atlas project.
Municipal Land Use Regulation Survey. The results of the 2022 Municipal Land Use Regulation Survey contain data on land use regulations, economic development tools, housing policies, and planning & development techniques adopted by each of New Hampshire's 234 municipalities; nine village districts with zoning authority; and Coos County, which has zoning authority over 23 unincorporated places in the North Country. This tool is updated annually by the Office of Planning & Development at the NH Department of Business & Economic Affairs.
New Hampshire Housing Toolbox. The NH Housing Toolbox contains 20 planning and zoning strategies to increase housing opportunities in New Hampshire. This tool is a collaboration of the NH Department of Business & Economic Affairs (BEA) and the state’s nine Regional Planning Commissions.
"How Do We Talk About Housing". This guide published by NH Housing outlines a community-led, bottom-up approach to engagement and advocacy for increasing housing opportunities across New Hampshire and beyond.
"Housing Commissions in New Hampshire”. This guide published by NH Housing outlines the benefits of creating a municipal housing commission and the process for doing so.