Have you ever wondered why one neighborhood is filled with single-family homes while another just a few streets away features townhomes, apartments, and storefronts? The answer lies in one word: zoning.
Zoning is one of the most powerful — and often overlooked — tools shaping how our communities look and grow. Whether you’re buying a home, helping clients find one, or watching your town evolve, understanding zoning offers valuable insight into where housing is headed next.
What Exactly Is Zoning?
At its core, zoning is a set of local rules that determine what can be built where. Most towns and cities in New Hampshire have individualized and specific zoning districts in their town and the way that we develop land depends on these rules.
Here are a few of the most common zoning categories that you might see from town to town:
- Residential (R): Determines whether an area allows single-family homes, townhomes, apartments, or mixed-use housing. There are often times different tiers of residential zones that direct specific types of development in each zone.
- Commercial (C): For offices, shops, and restaurants.
- Industrial (I): For warehouses, manufacturing, or large-scale operations.
- Overlay or special districts: Add additional rules — for example, coastal, historic, or cluster development zones.
In New Hampshire, we often see a mix of zoning in each town offering all of the different types of zoning listed above in specific areas which is determined with input from the town's Land Use Departments, Land Use Boards, and by each town’s voters. Zoning may sound technical, but it plays a very important role: it shapes the neighborhoods we live in, our community infrastructure and connectivity, and even how affordable our homes are.
Why Zoning Shapes Housing Supply and Affordability
One of zoning’s biggest impacts is on housing supply — how many and what types of homes can be built.
When zoning limits development to single-family homes only or requires larger lot sizes, it restricts the number of houses that can be built in a neighborhood and can impact prices because the cost of land and infrastructure is split by fewer homes being built.
In some zones where duplexes, townhomes, or small multifamily buildings are allowed, those areas tend to create more housing options and price points for buyers.
Imagine two communities:
- In one, zoning only allows two-acre single-family homes.
- In the other, zoning allows smaller lots, accessory units, and townhomes.
The second community will naturally offer more variety — and likely different price points for different types of housing types which creates diversity and affordability in the market. The more typical single-family home neighborhood also plays a role in the market and provides a more traditional home-buying option for buyers in that price point. These two types of neighborhoods together can represent a range of housing types that would appeal to most new home buyers.
How Zoning Influences Where and How Developers Build
From a developer’s perspective, zoning is one of the first and most critical factors to evaluate on any property. It determines not only what can be built, but also whether a project is financially feasible.
If a parcel is already zoned for the intended use, development can move quickly. If not, the developer may seek a zoning change or variance — a process that can add time and uncertainty to a project timeline.
Zoning also affects:
- Land value: Properties with favorable zoning are typically worth more.
- Design decisions: Lot coverage, setbacks, and height limits dictate what’s possible on a site.
- Community feel: The way the community feels also directly correlates to zoning, as it controls the spacing between homes, the length and layout of the roads, whether a community will have amenities or open space, and, in some cases, even the architectural style of the homes being built.
In New Hampshire, much of our land has unique characteristics that shape how it can be developed, including woodlands, fields, wetlands, agricultural drainage, and rock or ledge (welcome to the Granite State!). These natural conditions on the land also influence how the land can be developed.
The Blueprint for Tomorrow’s Communities
Zoning may not be the most glamorous topic, but it’s one of the most influential forces shaping our housing future. It determines whether young families can find starter homes, whether aging residents can downsize nearby, and how our towns adapt to changing needs.
As zoning evolves, expect to see more diverse housing options, better use of land, and communities designed for both connection and sustainability.
Whether you’re buying, selling, or developing, one thing is clear: understanding zoning means understanding the future of housing.
