NH RSA 674:71 / 674:58–61 — Workforce Housing Reasonable Opportunity Mandate (NH)
Tracked preemption from the New Hampshire overlay bundle.
Overview
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Effective
2010-01-01
Sunset
—
Authority
state
Scope
state:NH
Other New Hampshire preemptions
NH HB 631 / Chapter 201 (2025) — Multifamily / Mixed-Use By Right on Commercial LandNH RSA 674:72 — Accessory Dwelling Units (HB 577 / Chapter 197 Rewrite)NH RSA 483-B — Shoreland Water Quality Protection ActPease ANG (Air National Guard) AICUZ — Federal Airspace and Noise OverlayNH RSA 674:32 — Manufactured Housing Anti-Exclusionary MandateNH RSA 675 — Procedure for Adoption of Zoning, Subdivision, and Site-Plan RegulationsHubbard Brook Experimental Forest — USFS Research Watershed Carve-OutWhite Mountain National Forest — Federal Land Carve-Out (USFS)
Primary-source summary
**Last reviewed**: April 2026
**Activity level**: Medium-to-High — long-standing statutory mandates on ADUs (RSA 674:72) and workforce housing (RSA 674:71) constrain every municipality; legislature has seen repeated 2023-2025 density-preemption attempts (HB 399 / HB 577 / HB 1661) and STR preemption bills (HB 1128). New Hampshire's zoning regime is grounded in the Town Meeting / Select Board governance model, so state mandates interact with a highly decentralized local process.Trigger predicate
When this evaluates true for a parcel, the law's preempted fields take precedence over base zoning.
always true
Preempted fields
3 fields on the base district schema are rewritten when the trigger fires.
| Field | Op | Value | Note |
|---|---|---|---|
base_districts[*].allowed_uses | add | multifamily_5plus_units | Every municipality must allow multi-family dwellings of 5 or more units in some portion of the residential land area (RSA 674:60) |
base_districts[category=res].workforce_housing_opportunity | require | reasonable_and_realistic_in_majority_of_residential_land | RSA 674:59 — municipality must provide reasonable and realistic opportunities for workforce housing in a majority of the land area where residential uses are permitted |
review_type | override | expedited_appeal_to_hab_or_superior_court | RSA 674:71 — expedited appeal to NH Housing Appeals Board (RSA 679) or Superior Court (RSA 677:15); developer's choice. Burden of proof shifts to municipality once developer demonstrates the project meets the workforce-housing definition. Builder's remedy: court / HAB may order the project approved notwithstanding local ordinance if reasonable opportunities have not been provided. |
Citation
Authority source
NH RSA 674:58 through 674:61 (definitions + framework) and RSA 674:71 (appeal remedy); enacted as SB 349 of 2008; HAB created by RSA 679 (2020)
§ RSA 674:58–61, 674:71; RSA 679 (Housing Appeals Board)
Research notes
Workforce housing definition (674:58): for-sale units affordable to a 4-person household at ≤100% AMI, or rental units affordable to a 3-person household at ≤60% AMI. Operates as a 'reasonable-and-realistic-opportunity' standard, NOT a hard numerical safe-harbor like Massachusetts c. 40B (no 10% SHI threshold). Compliance evaluated case-by-case via the HAB or Superior Court. Foundational pre-statute case: Britton v. Town of Chester (1991) — exclusionary-zoning doctrine. Implementation pace is slower than MA c. 40B; HAB-driven builder's-remedy actions have nonetheless been successful in Strafford and Belknap counties since 2020.