Conference, report and new survey underscore NH affordable housing needs

New Hampshire voters aren’t feeling much relief from their anxieties about the state’s housing crisis, according to a new study.

Meanwhile, a new report says the continued reduced housing inventory, one of the causes of that voter agita, pushes home prices higher, “dampening labor market dynamism” in the Granite State.

The survey and report served as backdrops to the 2025 New Hampshire Housing and Economy annual conference held Oct. 16 at the Grappone Conference Center in Concord.

The survey comes from the Saint Anselm College Initiative for Housing and Policy Practice and shows “a consistent pattern of pro-housing sentiment across regions, age groups and political affiliations. Housing has indeed become a unifying policy concern for the New Hampshire electorate,” said Elissa Margolin, the Initiative’s executive director.

The report comes from New Hampshire Housing, released as part of the conference that drew more than 200 people.

Addressing the crowd, Gov. Kelly Ayotte, saying that housing is the “most important economic issue in our state,” pointed to her executive order that streamlines the state permitting process for certain housing developments. And she cited laws she signed from the 2025 legislative session that help address local supply and zoning constraints.

“I’m here to advocate for you, because I know as governor that, if we get this housing issue fixed, that it’s only an upward trajectory for the state of New Hampshire,” Ayotte said.

Outwardly, Rob Dapice, the executive director/CEO of NH Housing, did not criticize the governor but thanked her for her efforts to lower zoning barriers. But one of the slides in his opening presentation noted that the governor’s and Legislature’s budget for fiscal 2026 vastly reduced the amount of state funds for housing initiatives.

According to the data, the FY26 budget has 70% less for housing than previous two budgets, a reduction from $35 million to $10 million. “Future investments will be critical,” it said.

Somersworth’s mayor, Matt Gerding, was more forthcoming, saying, “I would not tell my fire department: Oh, sorry, we’re not going to fund you, even though there’s a forest fire over there. I’m not going to do that as a mayor. I’m shocked that the state of New Hampshire did that in the middle of the housing crisis. It just blows me away,” Gerdling said to loud applause. (By the time of Gerding’s presentation, the governor had left for a ribbon-cutting in Portsmouth.)

“We see housing as another form of infrastructure. Just like roads and bridges connect people to places, housing connects people to opportunity, to financial stability. It allows them to move their lives forward,” said Jeff Lefkovich, executive director of real estate and housing development at Catholic Charities New Hampshire.

“So what we’re trying to say to our legislators is: Consider housing as infrastructure.

In our view, housing is where stability begins, and that’s our focus,” added Lefkovich.

The survey that came out of St. A’s housing initiative showed that 64% of respondents say state lawmakers should include public investments in the next state budget to build more affordable housing. Voters aged 65 and older registered the strongest support, with 70% in favor of public funding, according to the survey.

It showed 78% of survey respondents agreed with the statement “My community needs more affordable housing to be built.”

Another 61% of Granite Staters think that towns and cities should change land-use regulations in order to allow more housing to be built.

The NH Housing report was notable in its detail of how the supply and affordability issues in the rental market are affecting the very jobs that Granite Staters depend upon — nurses, police officers, electricians, carpenters and child care workers to name a few.

The report, entitled “Who Can Afford to Live in New Hampshire,” says many of these workers earn wages well below what is needed to afford median rents in the state.

In terms of the residential housing market, the report noted that someone would have to earn $88 as a full-time hourly wage to afford to purchase a median priced house in the state.

The conference keynote speaker, Kyla Scanlon, offered a presentation on the economy writ large, citing factors that point to uncertainty. With uncertainty, however, it’s “more like walking into a casino where you don’t even know the game that you’re going to play. It’s really hard to measure uncertainty,” she said.