By PAULA TRACY, InDepthNH.org
CONCORD — With estimates that the state will need close to 90,000 new affordable housing units by 2040 to address the state’s needs and it is already 23,000 units behind, housing is a big issue in the upcoming governor’s race.
Republican gubernatorial candidate Kelly Ayotte announced her plan to tackle the crisis this week.
And Democratic candidate Joyce Craig released her housing initiative eight weeks ago.
Craig’s full Restoring the American Dream Housing Plan is here: https://joycecraig.org/housing
Ayotte acknowledged local control on this subject will require the state to work hand in hand with municipalities and other partners to help achieve that goal.
“As governor, I’ll work to streamline the state permitting process, cut unnecessary red tape that creates barriers to building more housing, and work with all stakeholders to incentivize construction of more affordable housing while respecting local control. Working together, we’ll tackle this crisis head-on and keep New Hampshire on the path to prosperity,” said Ayotte, the former U.S. Senator and former state Attorney General.
Building more housing across the state, she said, not only addresses a supply problem, but it also helps grow the economy and create jobs.
Democrat Joyce Craig, the former mayor of Manchester, said she has experience helping to create more than 2,000 new units in the Queen City and worked to do a comprehensive look at zoning there as it relates to the development of housing.
Craig has also touted this issue as among the most pressing if she is to take the corner office, now being vacated by Republican Gov. Chris Sununu.
Key Voter Concern
Clearly, affordable housing and the lack thereof, is a key issue of concern for voters.
According to the NH Housing 2023 Statewide Needs Assessment, the current housing shortage is 23,000 units. It also indicates that costs for housing are outpacing salary increases for many. The state has a vacancy rate for two-bedroom rental units at less than 1.6 percent and more than 4,000 people experienced homelessness in fiscal year 2021, according to the report.
Ayotte provided statistics that she said show that only 13 percent of the state’s rentals are currently affordable to the workforce.
As governor Ayotte said she will provide assistance with infrastructure and state and federal grant funding to make it easier and to incentivize New Hampshire communities to build more housing.
This includes an effort to sustain Gov. Chris Sununu’s $100 million InvestNH program which had the aim of building about 2,000 units and move the program that is now out of money, under the control of the New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority to continue to invest in workforce housing solutions.
Ayotte said she would also allocate resources in the next budget to the Affordable Housing Fund to enable larger scale development and then look at the potential to build on unused state land.
Ayotte also called for an audit of state properties to find unused and unnecessary state properties that could be used to develop more housing.
Ayotte said she would strengthen Federal-State and private sector partnerships and leverage federal funds such as the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Program and the Federal Housing Trust Fund to expand access to workforce housing.
Ayotte’s plan announced Tuesday would also establish and strengthen public-private partnerships through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and New Hampshire Housing Finance Authority to incentivize efforts to develop more workforce housing.
Craig Brown, Joyce Craig’s campaign manager, called Ayotte’s plan a “stunt” two weeks before the election on Nov. 5.
He said Ayotte continues to personally profit from the housing crisis as a member of the board of one of the nation’s largest landlords, Blackstone.
Ayotte has said if elected, she will resign from Blackstone.
Brown said Ayotte’s take with Blackstone is “to the tune of millions of dollars” that has worsened the housing crisis by jacking up rental costs and pushing people out of their homes.
“Just last week, Blackstone held its quarterly earnings call where they bragged that housing scarcity and a lack of new construction is good for their bottom line,” Brown said.
He said Craig is “the only candidate in this race with real solutions to address the housing crisis and with the experience of building more housing. As governor, Joyce will build on that record and get to work solving this crisis on day one.”
Ayotte said three state departments, Transportation, Environment and Fish and Game often play a vital role in development but far too often, bureaucratic paperwork either delays, kills, or inflates costs on housing projects.
Ayotte said if elected she would put a two-month deadline on that for state departments to respond.
This could be done without discounting environmental controls and safety measures, she said.
