The New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs (BEA) has awarded $5 million in State funds under the Housing Champion Program to 11 housing-related community projects.
The Housing Champions program is a major tool to supporting local efforts to address New Hampshire’s housing challenge through innovative policies and community-driven solutions.
The 11 awarded projects were selected from the 18 municipal Housing Champions designated in 2024. These communities demonstrated leadership in fostering affordable, accessible, and sustainable housing development, and are now able to move forward with proposed infrastructure projects.
Two key grant programs formed the foundation of the awards:
- Housing Production Municipal Grant Fund – $1.5 million available to support the development of new housing units.
- Housing Infrastructure Municipal Grant – $3.5 million available to enhance infrastructure supporting housing projects.
Awarded Communities per Grant
- Housing Production Municipal Grant
- Manchester
- Nashua
- Salem
- Newport
- Housing Infrastructure Municipal Grant
- Concord
- Dover
- Lebanon
- Manchester
- Newport
- Rochester
- Salem
Together, the four Housing Production projects represent 373 proposed units and the seven Housing Infrastructure projects will fund essential upgrades to sewer, water, electrical, or fire suppression infrastructure that directly support residential housing development.
"These communities have set a high standard for innovation and collaboration in tackling New Hampshire's housing challenges,” said BEA Commissioner Taylor Caswell. “Their commitment is instrumental in creating the kind of vibrant, sustainable communities that New Hampshire needs to grow its workforce and economy."
The Housing Champions Program, established in 2023, is part of a statewide initiative to encourage municipalities to adopt zoning and planning policies that facilitate the development of workforce housing. With a $5 million investment of state funds, the program aims to provide communities with the resources needed to implement effective housing solutions.
Housing Champions follows BEA’s successful $100 million InvestNH program that began in 2022. InvestNH helped build nearly 5,000 units of affordable housing and has assisted over 70 communities with developing their own local housing policies.