A comprehensive, accountability-driven roadmap to address Portsmouth's housing crisis through measurable actions and real results
Quick overview for City staff, Councilors, and interested residents
The problem is known. The tools exist. What's missing is execution.
The problem is known. The tools exist. What's missing is execution.
This Housing Action Plan is an implementation framework with clear owners, timelines, and measurable outcomes—using resources Portsmouth already has. It's designed to support City Council decisions about next steps.
Essential workers who make Portsmouth function cannot afford to live here.
Every action has a designated department lead
Quarterly milestones with public tracking
Progress dashboard shows results, not promises
Uses Housing Trust Fund and current staff capacity
Ruth Griffin Place—64 units of permanently affordable housing serving teachers, healthcare workers, and service workers—proves that when Portsmouth supports affordable housing with tax exemptions and smart policy, large-scale affordability becomes operational reality, not theory.
Housing instability increases stress, reduces healthcare access, and worsens chronic conditions. Long commutes decrease sleep and civic engagement.
Housing shortages reduce regional productivity, limit labor market dynamism, and exacerbate inequality. Workers need to live near jobs.
Increased supply with tenant protections produces better outcomes than either alone. Protections prevent displacement from new development.
Ten Portsmouth households show the arithmetic of the housing crisis
Housing shouldn't cost more than 30% of gross income. In Portsmouth, that doesn't work for teachers, nurses, firefighters, or service workers. These ten scenarios show who gets priced out and by how much.
Click any scenario to jump directly to it
Comprehensive framework of 122 Portsmouth-relevant housing actions compiled from proven strategies
Below is a comprehensive action matrix containing 122 Portsmouth-relevant housing actions compiled from multiple sources: community input (Places to Live Dialogue 2024), Planning Board member recommendations (Bill Bowen), Housing Committee work plans, consultant studies (RKG Associates 2022, HOP 2.0), state-level mandates (HB 577, SB 284), and proven strategies from comparable New Hampshire communities (Keene, Salem) and regional examples (South Portland ME, Burien WA).
This is not a prescriptive mandate—it's a comprehensive menu of evidence-based strategies. The actual Housing Action Plan would be developed through formal community engagement, Planning Board review, staff input, and City Council adoption. This framework demonstrates the breadth of tools available and the structure needed for accountability: clear owners, realistic timelines, and measurable outcomes.
ADUs, missing middle, density bonuses, conversions
Tax relief, fee waivers, gap financing, LIHTC
NOAH tracking, tenant protections, code enforcement
Streamlining, review coordination, fee structure
Public engagement, data dashboards, fair housing
Employer engagement, nonprofit developers, regional coalition
GIS inventory, gap analysis, housing dashboard
Sherburne redevelopment, public land inventory, RFPs
Seniors, veterans, students, transitional housing
Water/sewer, transit, school capacity, parking
Resiliency, energy efficiency, flood adaptation
Governance, funding sources, gap financing deployment
Explore Portsmouth's comprehensive housing action framework in (Table View) with full details on each of 122 actions, or use (Dashboard View) to track implementation progress by category.
This table contains 122 Portsmouth-relevant housing actions compiled from community input, Planning Board recommendations, Housing Committee work plans, consultant studies, state mandates, and proven strategies from comparable communities. These actions demonstrate the comprehensive scope and structure of an implementation-ready Housing Action Plan.
Note: The tables below show a representative selection of high-priority actions from each category. To explore the complete list of all 122 Portsmouth-compiled housing actions with interactive filtering, visit: Full Action Matrix →
$ = Low cost (primarily staff time, minimal direct expenses)
$$ = Medium cost (new staff position, programs, or moderate capital)
$$$ = High cost (significant capital investment, major infrastructure, or substantial program funding)
How Portsmouth prevents displacement and creates opportunity for all
How policy becomes a home
Ruth Griffin Place is a textbook example of how Portsmouth can leverage public-private partnerships to create affordable housing at scale. This isn't theory—it's operational reality.
Ruth Griffin Place proves that Portsmouth knows how to do this. The Housing Action Plan provides the framework to do it systematically, at the scale the crisis demands.
~80 units in downtown pipeline
Small pods (~10 units) sharing common living/kitchen space. Each resident has private sleeping and working areas. Recently approved in Portsmouth zoning code.
Service workers, contract workers, traveling nurses, recently singled adults, seniors seeking community. People who want Portsmouth proximity without typical apartment costs.
~$1,700/month with utilities included. That's $450+ cheaper than a studio apartment, making Portsmouth accessible to workers currently priced out.
Co-living represents the kind of innovative, market-responsive housing Portsmouth needs—providing quality options for workers at price points they can actually afford.
Housing policy succeeds when residents are genuine partners, not just recipients of top-down decisions. Portsmouth needs:
How housing production builds fiscal resilience in an era of shrinking state support
Portsmouth faces an unprecedented state funding crisis. The State has denied the city the right to levy a simple "pillow tax" on hotel rooms that would allow local control over tourism-generated revenue. Meanwhile, Portsmouth sends tens of millions of dollars in Rooms and Meals tax revenue to the State every year and receives only a small fraction back in revenue sharing.
Housing policy IS fiscal infrastructure. By implementing gentle density in zones previously limited to single-family homes, Portsmouth can grow the tax base considerably over time without harming neighborhood character. This enables Portsmouth to stabilize property taxes while maintaining current service levels—regardless of what the State does.
📊 Interactive fiscal calculator below — model the tax revenue impact of different housing production scenarios
This model estimates the fiscal impact of city-driven outreach, incentivization, and technical assistance to generate additional ADUs and residential conversions beyond what would occur naturally. Through targeted homeowner engagement, streamlined permitting, potential fee waivers, and hands-on support from the Housing Navigator, Portsmouth can actively catalyze gentle density development rather than waiting passively for applications.
These units use existing infrastructure and generate property tax revenue with minimal added municipal cost. The chart below shows how assessed value and tax revenue compound over ten years, compared to modest service costs.
All results reflect incremental units beyond Portsmouth's existing baseline, driven by active municipal initiatives.
Adds $4,000/unit/year (~0.22 students/unit at $18K/student). ADUs typically generate 0.05-0.1 students per unit (essentially zero) based on AARP research showing they predominantly house singles, couples, or elderly relatives. This toggle tests a conservative worst-case scenario.
Gentle density is not just a housing solution—it's a fiscal efficiency tool that happens to add housing.
Turning policy into homes for Portsmouth's working families and renters
Nearly half of Portsmouth residents are renters. Firefighters, teachers, nurses, catering workers, retail employees, and service workers—the people who make this city function—are being priced out. Studios cost $1,900/month, 1-bedrooms $2,700, 2-bedrooms $3,350. A firefighter earning $73K cannot afford a studio apartment at market rate.
The Housing Navigator position must be appointed to solve this crisis.
Portsmouth's Navigator history: Howard Snyder served as Portsmouth's first Housing Navigator for one year in 2024, funded by a state grant. Since the grant ended, the position has remained vacant. This plan proposes using the Housing Trust Fund to reestablish and sustain the Navigator role.
💵 Cost calculator below — model the program investment needed to hire and support a Housing Navigator
Proactive outreach to homeowners about ADU opportunities, guiding them through permitting, connecting them with contractors, and shepherding projects from concept to certificate of occupancy. Targets 10 ADUs per year.
Single point of contact for housing developers navigating Portsmouth's permitting process. Coordinates Planning, Fire, DPW, and Building departments to reduce approval timelines and get units built faster.
Maintains real-time dashboard showing housing pipeline: applications submitted, permits approved, units under construction, completions. Provides City Council with quarterly reports on progress toward housing goals.
Conservative goal: Over 10 years, the Navigator facilitates 100+ new housing units—ADUs, conversions, small multifamily projects. These are homes for working Portsmouth residents currently priced out of the market. Each unit reduces the affordability gap for renters.
Portsmouth's Housing Fund represents a public-private partnership with equal contributions from the City and Redgate/Kane developers. This $500,000 resource is specifically designated for housing initiatives. Using it to hire a Housing Navigator is precisely aligned with the fund's purpose: turning housing policy into actual homes for Portsmouth residents.
Adjust the assumptions below to see how different staffing and support levels affect the implementation cost and remaining Housing Fund balance.
Two-year program investment (FY2027-2028)
Every unit facilitated by the Navigator is a home for someone who works in Portsmouth. ADUs provide affordable rentals for service workers. Conversions create 1-bedrooms for teachers and nurses. This directly addresses the crisis facing the half of Portsmouth that rents.
The Navigator cuts red tape by coordinating Planning, Fire, and DPW departments. Single point of contact means homeowners and developers get clear guidance, faster approvals, and fewer delays. Housing gets built instead of stuck in process.
Beyond the human benefit, each new unit generates property tax revenue. Conservative estimate: 100 units over 10 years = $3.5M net fiscal impact (Section 4). The program pays for itself nearly 13x over while solving the housing crisis.
GIS analysis, policy benchmarking, and metrics maintained by UNH interns and fellows. Cost-effective expertise supporting evidence-based decisions.
Help navigating ADU permitting, conversions, and affordable housing programs. Makes housing opportunities accessible to Portsmouth residents.
No permanent staff expansion. Evaluate effectiveness after 18-24 months and adjust. If it works, continue. If not, course-correct. Low-risk pilot approach.
Portsmouth has $500,000 in Housing Fund resources (equal contributions from the City and Redgate/Kane developers). A focused, time-limited Housing Action Plan implementation can be fully funded for less than 60% of the fund balance.
This isn't spending—it's infrastructure investment. The $275,000 program cost enables housing production that generates $3.5 million in net fiscal impact over ten years. That's a 13:1 return on investment.
The city doesn't need a large new bureaucracy. It needs one dedicated coordinator, smart use of student talent, and a commitment to operational accountability. The resources exist. The tools exist. The fiscal case is overwhelming.
The question before the City Manager and City Council is not capacity. It is priority.