What is the Workforce Housing Coalition of the Greater Seacoast?
The Workforce Housing Coalition (WHC) is a business-led effort, that recognizes the link between housing availability and regional economic vitality. Our mission is to be a catalyst for the development of a range of housing options for the diverse workforce in the Greater Seacoast region of New Hampshire and Maine.

The Coalition includes over 150 businesses, government and community leaders that are working to educate people in the region about the need for a balanced supply of housing, advocate for a streamlined regulatory environment, and support developers committed to creating quality, workforce housing.

Together, our efforts will stimulate the approval and construction of a significant number of units that might not otherwise be built.

What territory is served by the Workforce Housing Coalition?
The Workforce Housing Coalition serves the Greater Seacoast region of New Hampshire including the cities and towns Rockingham, and Strafford Counties. Click here to see a list of towns the Coalition works in. The Workforce Housing Coalition is the first such program of its kind in the state. There are now eight regional coalitions and a statewide council.

What is "workforce housing"?
Workforce housing includes single-family homes, townhouses, condominiums, small starter homes, and apartments that are affordable to area workers.

Who needs workforce housing?
Those who take care of our children, our seniors and our communities. For example, teachers, health care workers, artists, municipal employees and the other workers who provide essential services in our communities - retail, service, manufacturing, and hospitality workers.

Workforce housing is housing that is affordable to households earning between 60% and 100% of area median income, that is, middle income families. Based upon US Housing and Urban Development's (HUD's) 2008 Portsmouth-Rochester, NH-York, ME area median income figures, Seacoast workforce incomes range from $32,400 for a one person household earning 60% of the area median income to $77,300 for a 4 person household earning 100% of area median income.

A 4 person household earning $77,300 (100% of area median income) can afford a home costing about $238,000, which is well below the $290,000 median selling price for a home in the Seacoast. In fact, a household needs to earn over $93,000 in annual income to be able to purchase a median priced home in our community. A 3 person household earning $41,760 per year (60% of area median income) can afford a two-bedroom apartment costing $1,044 a month including utilities. However, because the median rent for a 2 bedroom apartment in the Portsmouth-Rochester area costs $1,072, more than half of the 2 bedroom rentals are out of reach for the median 3 person household.

(HUD defines affordable as gross housing costs comprising no more than 30% of household income.)

What can be done to promote more workforce housing development in my town?
Municipal leaders can promote workforce housing in their communities by:

• Recognizing the importance of an adequate and balanced housing supply to your community's well-being and ensure that your community's planning, zoning and land use regulations and practices permit and encourage the development of a range of housing types that will adequately meet the region's and state's housing needs
• Ensuring that local regulatory policies, such as building and fire codes, do not add unnecessary costs to the creation of new workforce housing
• Exempting affordable housing from fees and building caps, and create flexibility in other requirements, such as density standards, to reduce the cost of housing development
• Implementing mechanisms like inclusionary zoning, which allow new housing developments to include a certain amount of housing for workforce households, or mixed-use zoning that allows a blend of commercial and residential development in a town center
• Supporting the work of local non-profit housing providers to help meet your community's housing needs and consider transferring municipally-owned land and buildings suitable for residential use to non-profit housing providers
  (Source: http://www.nhhfa.org/hap/docs/municipal.htm)

Business leaders can promote workforce housing in their region by:

• Communicating with state and local policy makers about the need for an adequate and balanced supply of housing in New Hampshire and advocate for public policies and resources that support the development of workforce housing
• Talking with your local Chamber of Commerce and other business leaders about forming a business housing coalition in your area to advocate for policies and programs that support the creation of housing for working families
• Serving on boards of community development corporations and other non-profit housing providers and support their efforts to create housing
• Taking advantage of state and federal tax credit programs that provide equity for housing development while reducing tax liability
• Making a municipality's willingness to provide housing opportunities appropriate to the needs of your workers a condition of business expansion or relocation
• Participating in local planning efforts or sit on local housing-related boards and commissions

Individuals can promote workforce housing in towns and neighborhoods by:

• Taking notice of when agenda items pertaining to workforce housing come up before your local planning board and city council; attend the public meeting and speak up in support of projects that include workforce housing
• Volunteering to serve on local housing-related boards and commissions
• Supporting local non-profit housing providers and developers through charitable donations and volunteering your time and talents