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The Soapbox: Breaking down the Affordable Housing Task Force Report

We also appreciate that Mayor Craig acknowledges “housing as a fundamental human right,” which is the core value of our housing alliance. While this acknowledgment is vital, we must take meaningful steps to make that right available to all. Slogans are nice but are meaningless without action. We fac

Brandon Lemay profile image
by Brandon Lemay

O P I N I O N

THE SOAPBOX

Stand up. Speak up. It’s your turn.


With the release of the Mayor’s 2021 Affordable Housing Task Force Report, we at the Manchester Housing Alliance praise Joyce Craig for agreeing to form this Task Force and following through with the release of this report. We also appreciate that Mayor Craig acknowledges “housing as a fundamental human right,” which is the core value of our housing alliance. While this acknowledgment is vital, we must take meaningful steps to make that right available to all. Slogans are nice but are meaningless without action. We face a time when developers and landlords are taking advantage of a tight market to profit off of what we deem to be a human right.

Within this report, there are findings from these three subcommittees:

  • Funding and Incentives Subcommittee
  • Zoning, Regulations and Land Use Subcommittee
  • Support Services Subcommittee

I’ll provide my thoughts on each section below.

Funding and Incentives

There are some great ideas in this section like utilizing unused city property for potential housing projects. I’m curious to see how this plays out. My biggest concern here is that we sell or give this land to for-profit developers at a generous price only to turn around and rent these units for private profit. If we are not careful, we could be socializing the risks while privatizing profits. If we are going to use city land or some other form of taxpayer’s money for development, we should make sure that it isn’t for the benefit of an already wealthy developer, but the residents of the city. As Kathy Stuab has written about, establishing land trusts and cooperative housing could be a great way of ensuring equity to residents without becoming a cash grab for Brady Sullivan. I want to highlight the fact that cooperative housing is distinct from public housing–  instead of the government owning and managing the property, the residents who live there do. A solution like this would empower individuals without expanding the size of government

There are some other ideas like allocating CIP (Community Investment Program) funds towards affordable housing. I liked how the new Director of Homelessness Services will be included in the process of allocating these funds, which is something that the Manchester Housing Alliance indirectly asked for in a signed letter to the Mayor earlier this year.

Finally, the report calls for more federal resources to incentivize private developers to produce more affordable units in their projects. As I mentioned earlier, I generally don’t agree with using taxpayer dollars for private profits. If the market cannot provide affordable housing, then we should be asking for non-market solutions: public housing. The United States has not made a significant investment in public housing in decades and it’s well beyond time for that to happen again. We view education as a fundamental right and invest a lot of money into public schools, why not housing? A person seeking Section 8 Housing in NH can wait up to 8 years to be approved. Section 8 also relies on the private rental market which is currently not supplying enough for current demand. The system is broken and we need structural reform that includes building public housing. We need to call on our Federal Delegation to demand Public Housing.

Zoning, Regulations and Land Use Subcommittee

There are some great ideas in this section of the report including cutting red tape that allows developers to build more units in a certain lot as long as a certain number of those units are affordable. The report also recommends the expansion of mixed-use zoning to allow multi-family units in commercial areas. Personally, I like this idea as it can free up property owners to develop more units within walking distance of commercial spaces. While it could add more units, it could also decrease the reliance on cars within the city.

Expanding Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs) was also recommended in the report. For those who don’t know, an ADU could be something like an in-law apartment, or a standalone structure in somebody’s backyard. Within the MHA, there are varying opinions about ADUs. On one hand, they are a way to increase housing stock and could encourage multi-generational living on the same property. The worry is that ADUs without major housing development projects alongside proper code enforcement, they could lead to unsafe and unaffordable tiny units being rented out en masse. I’m not against ADUs, but I’m cautious about how they can be used.

The report also recommended that the state change laws to allow tiny homes to be allowed within the state building code. Giving local control to cities/towns to allow tiny homes is something that both Republicans and Democrats should agree on.

Support Services Subcommittee

The report suggests creating a Housing Resource Portal where tenants can know their rights, file complaints about substandard living conditions, and where to find rental assistance. This is great, but I’m skeptical of the city’s ability to crack down on slumlords when the city has so many loopholes in terms of code enforcement. The MHA’s “Residents for Safety and Affordability” workgroup has identified multiple inspectors rubber-stamping unsafe units with Certificates of Compliance even though they should have failed inspection.

The report proposes an Affordability Housing Property Improvement Grant Fund to repair unsafe units. This is a good step, but I again empathize proper code enforcement within the city to complement this grand fund.

My Final Take

I don’t want my analysis to read off as a criticism of this report, but rather a perspective of the report’s strengths and weaknesses. There were varying political leanings within the task force and frankly I’m amazed that they were able to come up with these recommendations at all. The act of calling this task force was incredible, let alone the coherent recommendations set forth by it. For that, I praise Mayor Craig. This report is quite honest that it doesn’t have all of the answers to the housing crisis facing Manchester and signifies that the report is the beginning, not the end of this endeavor. If the city is serious about being a leader in tackling the housing crisis, we need to invest in a myriad of solutions including, public housing, cooperative housing, ADUs, proper code enforcement and other creative solutions that empower individuals, not landlords and developers.

If you’re interested in sharing your struggles around housing or want to get more involved in advocating for real change around housing, take our  or email me at brandon@radnh.org.


Beg to differ? Agree to disagree? Thoughtful prose on topics of general interest are welcome. Send submissions to publisher@manchesterinklink.com, subject line: The Soapbox.


Brandon Lemay is the Housing Justice Organizer for Rights and Democracy and the Manchester Housing Alliance.

Brandon Lemay profile image
by Brandon Lemay