Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission 

Impacts from the housing crisis are rippling through communities. Throughout 2022, the Upper Valley Lake Sunapee Regional Planning Commission will continue to address this issue head on as part of our Regional Housing Needs Assessment. This Assessment will update and expand upon parts of the Keys to the Valley Initiative, and UVLSRPC will continue to collaborate with our Vermont partners for integrated, bi-state solutions to this housing crisis.

The final 2023 UVLS Regional Housing Needs Assessment is available here.

Keep up to date through our project page on the Keys to the Valley website.

The purpose of the Regional Housing Needs Assessment and Fair Housing Equity Assessment is to provide current, regional, and local data on housing needs and to fulfill RSA 36:47(II) statutory requirements, requirements of the American Rescue Plan funding, and the recommendation of the Council on Housing Stability 2021-2024 Strategic Pan.  

This assessment is a highly anticipated review of the current housing trends and needs and will identify future housing needs and opportunities. One goal of the assessment is to provide a foundation of housing trends for communities to begin addressing housing barriers and opportunities. This assessment will be utilized to frame the conversation around solutions on a community-by-community basis and to determine compliance with the Workforce Housing Statute (RSA 674:58-61).  

The Fair Housing Equity Assessment (FHEA) portion of the assessment is a tool utilized by HUD to identify disparities of burdens and benefits experienced by different population groups, particularly communities of interest identified in the framework. The FHEA elements included in this assessment fulfill the requirements of American Rescue Plan state of New Hampshire funding.   

NHRSA 36:47(II) requires that “For the purpose of assisting municipalities in complying with RSA 674:2, III(l), each regional planning commission shall compile a regional housing needs assessment, which shall include an assessment of the regional need for housing for persons and families of all levels of income.” RSA 36:47(II) states that the regional housing needs assessment shall be updated every 5 years and made available to all municipalities in the planning region.

For more information on the statewide coordinated initiative between all nine Regional Planning Commissions, click here.

For information on our previous Regional Housing Needs Assessments, click here.