Housing sale indicators are up in New Hampshire from a year ago, including inventory, which while still low, is on a three-month run of being higher than it had been in nearly five years.
As members of the Manchester Neighbors Welcome Coalition, we know that Manchester needs more homes at different prices and sizes for our current and future neighbors. Manchester is short 8,500 homes to meet today’s needs, to say nothing of the future. Rent for 2-bedroom apartments jumped over 20% last year. The average house costs over $180,000 more than four years ago.
The Manchester Planning Board appeared to have a positive response to a proposed 55-bed substance abuse recovery facility seeking to replace a now vacated New England College dormitory at 88 Lowell St.
For Granite Staters, access to affordable housing is a matter of top importance. A June University of New Hampshire poll found 36 percent of respondents cited housing as the top issue facing the state, far above any other concern.Â
The Planning Board will meet on Thursday, September 5 at 6 p.m. and the following applications will be heard.
The New Hampshire housing crisis may feel a positive effect when interest rates drop next month, but loosening up the state’s housing supply is still the biggest key, the president of the New Hampshire Association of Realtors said Friday.
It became clear to me then that Jon Kiper, the only one of them to speak up on behalf of the people, is the kind of governor we deserve—one who respects everyone’s dignity and individual freedom enough to act with his feet and speak to our face.
Even with current protections in place, approximately 400 evictions occur every month in New Hampshire. We need that number to go down, not up. It’s clear that urgent legislative action is needed to protect renters. We cannot ignore the human suffering caused by policies prioritizing landlords’ interests over tenants’ rights. The time for action is now.Â
Renting in Manchester is often stressful. Too many of our friends and neighbors are wracked by the uncertainty of whether they’ll be able to remain in the community for another year, while trying to keep up with increasing rent costs, which are a direct result of the lack of homes here in Manchester and the surrounding towns. The shortage of attainable housing options for working folks is a policy choice – a choice that has forced young families who grew up here to move away, kept too many stuck in housing situations they cannot afford, and prevented young adults from growing up and moving out.
“There’s more positive news. The city’s CIP committee recently approved the expenditure of $200,000 from the Affordable Housing Trust Fund for the purchase of a building that will provide 8 units of housing at $800 a month per unit for individuals who were previously unhoused. The full Board of Aldermen will take up this agenda item on August 6.Â