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‘Frat-house’ bill draws heated testimony: students and municipalities clash over occupancy limits
Summary
HB 457 would ban local rules that limit unrelated occupants and cap per-bedroom occupancy below two people; student speakers and housing advocates supported it as a route to affordability, while Durham officials and municipal advocates warned it would undermine local zoning tools used to manage impacts from concentrated student housing.
Representative Sam Farrington introduced HB 457, a proposal to prohibit local ordinances that restrict occupancy by familial status and to bar rules that limit occupants to fewer than two people per bedroom. "Right now across the state of New Hampshire…college towns like Durham…have adopted a 3 unrelated rule," Farrington said, calling the ordinance a source of artificially constrained supply and higher rents.
The hearing drew sizable turnout from students, municipal officials and landlords. Students and housing groups argued the rule inflates rents and…
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