Gov. Ayotte Signs Legislation to Lower Costs for Resident-Owned Communities and Support Affordable Housing
by Abby Bronson
on August 7, 2025
In June, the New Hampshire General Court wrapped up a busy 2025 legislative session. Over 1,000 bills on a range of issues were considered, but voters consistently made clear one issue should take priority: the lack of affordable housing.
Now, Governor Ayotte has signed several bills to help address our state’s housing shortage. We applaud the bipartisan efforts this year to increase affordable housing options, but want to highlight one bill in particular, SB 165. This bill, championed by State Senator Kevin Avard, was recently signed into law by the Governor and increases the audit threshold for consumer cooperatives.
But why does an audit threshold matter so much for affordable housing?
It’s because SB 165 will keep costs low for Resident-Owned Communities (ROCs). In case you aren’t familiar, Resident-owned communities are manufactured-home communities that have been purchased cooperatively by their residents, and they contain the most affordable homeownership opportunities available in New Hampshire. In fact, it is currently less expensive to own a home in most of New Hampshire’s 152 ROCs than it is to rent an apartment of a similar size.
Prior to SB 165, state law required that consumer cooperatives — which include ROCs — conduct an annual audit if their income was over $250,000. This threshold, which hadn’t been updated in over 30 years, meant that virtually all new ROCs were required to spend up to $10,000 annually to conduct an audit. Not only did this costly requirement raise lot rents for each individual homeowner, but it was also difficult to even find an accountant willing to conduct an audit at that revenue level.
SB 165 fixed this by increasing the audit income threshold from $250,000 to $2 million, aligning with nonprofit audit requirements. This law will save ROCs real money, allowing them to continue doing what they do best, keeping this unique form of homeownership as affordable as possible. At the same time, this law preserves alternative oversight mechanisms to maintain accountability and transparency for ROC homeowners.
While we are excited about this new law, we know there is more work to be done. The median cost of a home remains over $500,000 and new data shows that Granite Staters must make $35 an hour to afford a modest two-bedroom apartment. It is critical that we continue to give Granite Staters more quality affordable housing options. That must include manufactured housing.
This year, our legislators had an opportunity to do just that with HB 685. The bill, led by Representative Joe Alexander, was simple. It required that manufactured homes — a high-quality housing option built with the same materials as site-built homes but at a fraction of the cost — be allowed anywhere that site-built housing is.
Despite being a quality, affordable, and beautiful option, misinformation and misunderstanding about manufactured housing persists. Additional education about manufactured housing, what it is and what it isn’t, is necessary. Unfortunately, this year, HB 685 failed to make it to the Governor’s desk. For young people looking to build their lives here, this means fewer affordable starter home options. For older Granite Staters looking to downsize, it means fewer single-floor options to age in place. We are disappointed that HB 685 did not move forward, but we look forward to continuing this conversation in 2026.
Abby Bronson is the director of policy and advocacy for the New Hampshire Community Loan Fund.
This op-ed originally appeared in the New Hampshire Journal on August 7, 2025.