New poll suggests high concern about NH housing, but mixed appetite for zoning reform

By Ethan DeWitt/ NH Bulletin

Granite Staters continue to overwhelmingly cite the scarcity of affordable housing as the most pressing concern, a new poll from the University of New Hampshire suggests.

Faced with a range of options that included taxes, education, jobs, and cost of living, 36% of respondents to the poll said housing is “the most important problem facing New Hampshire” — far and away the biggest share. The next highest category was taxes; 10% of respondents chose that as the most important issue.

But when it comes to the most likely legislative approach to address the housing shortfall this year, residents are more divided.

The poll, released Thursday, asked respondents whether they support legislation that would require cities and towns to relax their zoning policies to make it easier to build a home. Thirty-eight percent supported that legislation — 15% strongly — but 40% opposed it. Of those that were against it, 18% were strongly opposed.

The response comes as the Republican-led Legislature has passed a pair of bills that would bar municipalities from making certain zoning restrictions; both bills are making their way to Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s desk.

House Bill 631 would require municipalities to allow multi-family developments in commercial zones, such as shopping areas. And House Bill 577 would allow homeowners to build a detached accessory dwelling unit by right and expand the size limitations to do so.

The issue of housing scarcity dominated both Democratic and Republican campaign platforms in 2024, and lawmakers in both parties have found common ground in legislation that would forcibly remove local zoning barriers to housing.

Some groups, such as the New Hampshire Municipal Association, are opposed to those bills, arguing that cities and towns should be able to craft their own zoning codes and should react to the housing shortage with approaches supported by their residents.

Republican lawmakers have shown less support this year for devoting state resources to encourage more development; the House-passed budget would eliminate the Housing Champion Program, a 2023 effort to give special grants and state support to towns that voluntarily changed their zoning codes to be more friendly to housing. House and Senate lawmakers have also blocked efforts to increase the amount of money going to the state’s affordable housing fund, which is currently allocated $5 million of state tax revenues per year.

The May 29 UNH poll was released three months after a poll conducted by YouGov on behalf of Housing Action New Hampshire, a housing advocacy group, appeared to show more support for zoning changes.

In that poll, conducted March 3 to 10, more than 75% of respondents supported policies to “allow more homes near business and shopping districts,” allow “flexibility for paved parking areas,” “allow homes on slightly smaller lots,” and “make it easier to build accessory dwelling units.” The Housing Action poll also found that 54% of respondents said building more homes is more important for New Hampshire than protecting the character of neighborhoods from change, compared to 35% who said the opposite and 11% who were not sure.

The Housing Action poll worded its questions differently than the UNH poll; the former poll asked about legislation that would “allow” homeowners to build certain structures, while the latter poll asked about legislation that would “require” cities and towns to change their zoning codes to achieve that.

“Granite Staters are about evenly divided on this issue,” states the UNH survey report.