Council on Housing Stability Releases Strategic Plan to Address Housing and Homelessness Challenges in New Hampshire

August 10, 2021

The New Hampshire Council on Housing Stability has released a three-year Strategic Plan to promote housing stability and tackle homelessness for residents of the Granite State. The plan outlines actionable next steps and mechanisms for deploying resources with a focus on two significant goals: address housing needs with an increase of 13,500 units of housing by 2024 and make homelessness rare, brief and one-time in New Hampshire.

The plan was unanimously approved by the full Council on June 22, 2021 and is New Hampshire’s first comprehensive strategy to address all aspects of housing and homelessness. A overview and full version of the plan can be accessed via https://nhchs.org/strategicplan/.

Addressing the lack of affordable housing is critical for New Hampshire’s future. The Council’s plan presents recommendations and strategies to promote new housing development, reduce barriers to affordable housing and use a data-driven approach to understand regional needs relating to housing stability and homelessness prevention, among many other priority areas.

“With a clear vision and guiding principles, the Council has delivered a strategic plan – including a comprehensive statewide plan on homelessness – that represents a significant step forward in addressing housing stability in New Hampshire,” stated Governor Sununu. “The plan serves as a blueprint for our collective efforts – statewide, regionally, and locally – with a focus on alignment, coordination, innovation, and accountability. The end goal: creating improved health, social, educational and economic outcomes for individuals, families and communities.”

The Council’s plan includes a three-year actionable framework to specifically address homelessness. The recommendations and strategies aim to make homelessness rare, brief and one-time in New Hampshire, with emphasis on the need for an increase in inventory of affordable housing. In addition, special attention was given to the issue of veteran homelessness, already in steady decline, setting a goal to end it for good in 2022.

The plan represents six months of efforts by Council members and four working groups with strategic assistance provided by the Corporation for Supportive Housing (CSH), a national technical assistance provider in housing policy. Grants from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation and Endowment for Health made support from CSH possible.

The New Hampshire Council on Housing Stability was established by Governor Christopher Sununu with Executive Order 2020-22 on November 18, 2020. The Council brings together a broad base of diverse stakeholders from across the state and is co-led by the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Business and Economic Affairs and the Community Development Finance Authority.