A lack of housing in Southern New Hampshire is a multi-pronged issue with no quick solution.

The Monadnock Housing Collaborative, a partnership between the Monadnock United Way, Southwest Regional Planning Commission, Monadnock Interfaith and New Hampshire Housing is seeking ways to at least start opening some doors, by helping communities communicate about what works, and learning about existing initiatives that might move the needle.

Rebecca Levy, the coordinator for the Monadnock Housing Collaborative with Monadnock United Way, said that the idea is to create a “multi-sector approach” to the problem, and to get communities talking — because they have many of the same needs and obstacles, and the same goals. Particularly those communities that want to preserve their rural nature while still encouraging housing development, and finding a way to strike a balance between the two.

“It’s a hub for finding out information, learning about advocacy opportunities, and advance housing solutions, but ones that meet the needs for communities, not a one-size-fits all approach,” Levy said.

A real problem

According to research provided by Polygon, the median household income for a family in Cheshire County is about $91,842 annually. The median home value for the county is about $380,164.

According to data from New Hampshire Realtors, houses spend an average of a month on the market before being sold in the county. In 2024, the median sales price for a home in the county was $375,000, and $377,500 in 2025.

While New Hampshire has seen some promising increases in housing development, it is still below where the state estimates building needs to be to meet demand.

According to the New Hampshire Department of Business and Economic Affairs, in 2024, there were 5,822 building permits for housing units issues, which is the highest amount since 2006. Assuming all those units were constructed by the end of 2025, New Hampshire would have added about 25,688 housing units since 2020 — but that’s only about 78.5% of the amount actually needed, according to the New Hampshire Statewide Housing Needs Assessment for taht same period.

The development is also not evenly spread. A total of 23 towns or cities, which represent about 43.5% of the state’s population, accounted for 63% of the housing built last year, according to the BEA.

Levy said there are a multitude of reasons behind the housing shortage, including a lack of construction resources, towns not utilizing existing infrastructure to support new development, and out-of-date zoning.

Levy said some towns have already begun work to address this, creating zoning that allows for development in ways that preserve what people love about their towns.

“If you look at our historic downtowns, houses are built to the lot line, both to the front and to the side. Sometimes they even share walls. And that’s a character that everyone loves, but the way our current zoning ordinances are written, that wouldn’t be able to be built today,” Levy said.

She said other options are cluster developments, which allow for houses to be built together in close proximity on large plots of land, preserving green open space around the development.

Other options are using existing historic buildings and re-developing them into housing. That is a prospect that can come with the hazards of old buildings, such as lead or asbestos, or just aging infrastructure. Towns can adopt tax code, such as the state’s 79-E exemption, that allows a period of time where developers renovating historic buildings can freeze their tax assessment for several years as they make improvements to the building, to make redevelopment more attractive.

Levy said those kinds of incentives can help communities create the kind of development they want to see in their communities.

“We love the rural character, and that’s why people live where they live, and choose to stay here. The goal isn’t to change that or put it at risk,” Levy said.

Planners talking to planners

One way the Southwest Regional Planning Commission and the Monadnock Housing Alliance are trying to move the needle, is to have planners talking with each other and sharing ideas, via quarterly Citizen Planner Peer-to-Peer Roundtables across the Monadnock region.

The roundtables are a space for cross-town communication and to connect local Planning Board members with useful resources.

While the roundtables are not exlusively about housing, it has been a topic of conversation, as towns in the regional all face the same challenge, said SWRPC Exectutive Director Todd Horner.

“Often [Planning Board members] are learning in isolation from one another. There is value in bringing that peer group together so they can talk through common challenges, share resources that may be useful, and hear from expert speakers. It’s no surprise, housing has been a theme that’s run through these roundtables,” Horner said.

Those conversations can include things other communities are doing to tackle the problem, such as Keene, which in 2024, passed a new zoning overlay district, to allow “cottage courts” — clustered small-home developments in residential districts where there is access to city water and sewer. Other conversations have been about the impact of short-term rentals in communities, or expanding flexibility around Accessory Dwelling Unit rules.

The next roundtable, planned for June in Walpole, will be on the topic of writing and updating the town’s Master Plan.

Horner said this kind of collaborative learning can help when many town boards are staffed by community volunteers, often without access to professional planning staff members.

Other initiatives offered by SWRPC include helping to connect towns with federal funding, and serving as grant writers and administrators for a variety of grant programs, which can provide funding for things like affordable housing and Community Block Grants.

Horner said the goal is just to help communities learn what’s out there, and what’s working for their neighbors.

“This is an issue we see in our whole region,” Horner said. “The issue we see is bandwidth, and capacity to identify funding, apply for it, and administer it. That’s a gap we’re trying to fill.”

Horner said that all of these pieces are only part of the ongoing issue of housing shortages and affordability.

“It’s a complex and slow-moving issue,” Horner said. “There’s really no silver bullet. There are just many small pieces put together to try to solve the housing puzzle.”