New Hampshire HOA ADUs & Modifications
Section 1: Overview — ADUs and modifications in New Hampshire
New Hampshire regulates condominiums through a detailed statute — the New Hampshire Condominium Act, RSA 356-B — backed by a declarant-sales registration regime that the Department of Justice runs. But the state has no comprehensive planned-community statute. Its 2016 accessory dwelling unit (ADU) law, which the Legislature substantially expanded in 2025, works through municipal zoning rather than over private covenants, and the recorded declaration governs solar and most other modifications.1 Start with the threshold question. A New Hampshire community is one of two things: a condominium under RSA 356-B, or a covenant-governed planned community that draws its authority from its recorded declaration, the nonprofit corporation law (RSA 292), and common law. New Hampshire has not adopted the Uniform Common Interest Ownership Act.2 Whether an ADU is allowed is first a municipal-zoning question under RSA 674:71 through RSA 674:73, and inside an association the declaration controls the ADU, because the ADU law binds municipalities and does not void private covenants.3 The declaration also governs solar installations, because no New Hampshire statute stops an association from restricting solar collectors; the state's solar provisions are easement-based.4 A handful of protections come from federal law no matter what the state does: the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (the U.S. flag), the FCC OTARD Rule (antennas and satellite dishes), the Fair Housing Act (reasonable modifications for disability), and ADA Title III (common-area public accommodations).5 The sections that follow lay out the legal framework, the compliance duties it creates, recent legislative and judicial activity, and where New Hampshire stands nationally.
Section 2: The legal framework
2A. The Condominium Act, the sales-registration regime, and the planned-community gap
The New Hampshire Condominium Act, RSA 356-B, applies to all condominiums and condominium projects.1 It supersedes the older Unit Ownership of Real Property Act, RSA 479-A: no one could establish a condominium under RSA 479-A on or after September 10, 1977, and RSA 356-B leaves untouched the validity of any condominium instrument recorded before that date, so instruments predating September 10, 1977 remain governed by RSA 479-A.6 The Act carries the substantive condominium provisions — declaration, instruments, common areas, governance — and a separate registration and consumer-protection subdivision for declarant sales at RSA 356-B:50 through RSA 356-B:68, which the New Hampshire Department of Justice, Consumer Protection and Antitrust Bureau enforces; RSA 356-C governs conversions of rental property to condominium or cooperative ownership.7 New Hampshire has no comprehensive planned-community statute. A planned-community association answers to its recorded covenants, to the Voluntary Corporations and Associations Act (RSA 292) if it incorporated as a nonprofit, and to common law; a narrow 2023 amendment, RSA 292:8-m, adds a two-thirds-majority requirement where one person holds more than half the votes after developer control ends, and it requires a planning-board hearing before dissolution.2 RSA 356-B:70, which had created a committee to study the laws on condominium and homeowners' associations, was repealed effective January 1, 2025.8 The condominium instruments set architectural review, or, in a planned community, the declaration does; RSA 356-B:15 requires unit owners to comply with the condominium instruments.9 New Hampshire courts do not strictly construe restrictive covenants. As the Supreme Court said in Lynch v. Town of Pelham, the Court has "rejected the policy of strictly construing restrictive covenants," and the parties' intent is the touchstone of construction; the courts also give association boards latitude, upholding a board decision so long as it does not contravene an express provision of the declaration or a right reasonably inferable from it.10
2B. Solar and other categories
New Hampshire's solar statute, RSA 477:49 through RSA 477:51, rests on easements and access: it lets a landowner create and record a "solar skyspace easement" to keep a neighbor from casting a shadow on a collector, and it says nothing about association or covenant restrictions.4 No New Hampshire statute stops an association or a covenant from restricting solar collectors; bills that would have added such a provision — a proposed RSA 477:22-b — failed in 2020 and 2022, and Chapter 477 carries no section limiting covenant restrictions on solar.4 So the declaration controls HOA solar. New Hampshire likewise has no HOA-specific statute on electric-vehicle charging, landscaping, or xeriscaping; the state's EV statutes, RSA 236:132 through RSA 236:134, address public charging stations and signage, not association authority, so the declaration governs each category.11 Flags are the exception: RSA 356-B:47-a bars a condominium unit owners' association from prohibiting the outdoor display of the United States flag, and the Legislature enacted it expressly "[p]ursuant to the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005"; there is no equivalent state statute for planned communities, which rely on the federal Act directly.12 The practical effect is plain: with no category-specific statutory mandate on associations, the declaration is the binding authority on solar, EV charging, and landscaping, subject to the federal overlays.
2C. ADUs and federal overlays
New Hampshire's ADU law, RSA 674:71 through RSA 674:73, took effect in 2017 after its 2016 enactment, and HB 577 substantially expanded it — Governor Ayotte signed the bill on July 15, 2025, and it took effect July 1, 2025 as Chapter 197.3 As amended, RSA 674:72 requires every municipality with a zoning ordinance to allow one ADU, attached or detached, as a matter of right in all districts that permit single-family dwellings, without extra requirements for lot size, setbacks, or design beyond those for a single-family dwelling; it caps municipal size limits so that living space may not fall below 750 square feet and may not exceed 950 square feet unless the municipality authorizes more, and RSA 674:73 now requires municipalities to permit one detached ADU.13 This is a municipal-zoning mandate aimed at localities. By its terms it does not reach or void private restrictive covenants, so within a covenant-governed association the declaration controls whether and how a member may build an ADU; the statute also keeps the bar on conveying an ADU separately by condominium deed unless the municipality allows it.3 The analysis therefore runs in two layers: the municipal ordinance sets what zoning permits, and the declaration sets what the association permits. That distinguishes New Hampshire from states that cap association authority over ADUs by statute, such as California (Civ. Code § 4751) and Colorado (HB 24-1152); New Hampshire's mandate operates only at the municipal level. Four federal frameworks bind every New Hampshire association regardless of state law: the Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005 (the U.S. flag), the FCC OTARD Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 (antennas and satellite dishes one meter or less), the Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3) (reasonable, resident-paid modifications for disability), and ADA Title III (common-area facilities that qualify as public accommodations).5
Section 3: Compliance obligations created by the framework
A. Architectural review process obligations
Review authority and process come from the condominium instruments or, in a planned community, the recorded declaration; RSA 356-B:15 requires compliance with the condominium instruments, and New Hampshire has no statute that prescribes an architectural-review procedure (STATE STATUTE for the compliance duty, DECLARATION for the process; applies to BOTH).9 Boards should issue written decisions and keep records of applications and votes, because a New Hampshire court reviewing a challenge will ask whether the board acted within the declaration and reasonably — and the record is the board's defense (DECLARATION and common law; applies to BOTH).10
B. Modifications the association must permit
New Hampshire imposes no clear state-level solar, EV, or landscaping mandate on associations, so the binding "must permit" obligations are federal. The association may not prohibit the outdoor display of the U.S. flag (FEDERAL Freedom to Display the American Flag Act of 2005, with a parallel STATE STATUTE at RSA 356-B:47-a for condominiums; applies to BOTH).12 The association may not prohibit antennas or satellite dishes one meter or less in a member's exclusive-use area (FEDERAL OTARD, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000; applies to BOTH).14 The association must permit reasonable, resident-paid modifications that a disabled resident needs for full enjoyment of the dwelling (FEDERAL Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3); applies to BOTH).15 Where a common-area facility qualifies as a public accommodation, ADA Title III applies (FEDERAL; applies to BOTH).16
C. ADU obligations and limits on HOA authority
The ADU mandate in RSA 674:72 binds the municipality, which must allow one attached or detached ADU by right on a single-family lot (STATE STATUTE; applies to the MUNICIPALITY, and to lots in BOTH condominiums and planned communities as a zoning matter).13 Whether that mandate reaches an association's covenants the statute does not say; the declaration otherwise governs whether a member may build an ADU, and boards should treat ADU requests under the declaration's architectural and use provisions (DECLARATION; applies to BOTH).3
D. Enforcement, dispute resolution, and appeal obligations
Enforcement of the condominium instruments runs through the remedies in RSA 356-B and the declaration; for planned communities, enforcement is contractual under the declaration and RSA 292 (STATE STATUTE for condominiums, DECLARATION for planned communities; applies to BOTH).9 For condominium sales, the Department of Justice administers the RSA 356-B and RSA 356-C registration regime (rules at Jus 1400), which targets declarant sales, not ongoing HOA operations; New Hampshire does not license community association managers (STATE STATUTE; applies to CONDOMINIUMS).17 Trial-level disputes proceed through the Superior Court — some matters through the Circuit Court — and appeals go directly to the New Hampshire Supreme Court, because New Hampshire has no intermediate appellate court (STATE court structure; applies to BOTH).18
Section 4: Recent legislative and judicial activity
A. Recent bills
HB 577 · Chapter 197 · 2025 Session
This is the most consequential recent measure. HB 577 rewrote the definition of an ADU and broadened the state's ADU mandate. It amended RSA 674:71, repealed and reenacted RSA 674:72, and amended RSA 674:73 — and it now requires every municipality to allow one ADU, attached or detached, as a matter of right, and to permit one detached ADU.[13]
| Property managers | Check whether the municipality now allows a detached ADU by right, then run any member's ADU request through the declaration's architectural and use rules. |
| HOA board members | The expansion changes municipal zoning, not the declaration; your ADU authority still comes from the governing documents. |
| Community association attorneys | Advise boards that HB 577 does not preempt private covenants, so declaration-based ADU limits remain the operative constraint inside the community. |
| Homeowners | A town must now allow an ADU by right, but your association's declaration may still restrict or condition it. |
HB 1172 · 2024 Session
This second condominium-governance bill amended RSA 356-B:37-c, the provision that sets the rules for meetings of the association's board of directors and its committees.[19]
| Property managers | Measure your board and committee meeting-notice practices against the amended RSA 356-B:37-c for condominiums. |
| HOA board members | Confirm your condominium's meeting procedures track the current statute. |
| Community association attorneys | The amendment reaches condominiums under RSA 356-B, not covenant-governed planned communities. |
| Homeowners | Condominium unit owners keep their notice and open-meeting rights under the Condominium Act. |
B. Recent appellate rulings
AZNH Revocable Trust v. Spinnaker Cove Yacht Club Association, Inc.
Here the New Hampshire Supreme Court affirmed dismissal of unit owners' challenge to their ninety-one-unit association's purchase of land outside the condominium. The Court held that RSA 356-B:42, I empowers a unit owners' association to "[a]cquire, hold, convey and encumber title to real property" — except to the extent the condominium instruments forbid it.[20]
| Property managers | Read an association's powers from the Condominium Act and the instruments together, and document the instrument basis for any major action. |
| HOA board members | Boards hold broad statutory powers under RSA 356-B:42 unless the declaration limits them. |
| Community association attorneys | The decision confirms that courts read RSA 356-B:42 powers broadly and make challengers point to an express instrument limit. |
| Homeowners | A unit owner contesting a board action has to name a specific provision the board violated, not lodge a general objection. |
The Court handed down additional Condominium Act decisions in 2024, among them Commerce Park Condominium Association v. Little Deer Valley, LLC (convertible land) and Moda v. Fernwood at Winnipesaukee Condominium Association (reassignment of limited common area under RSA 356-B:19). Through July 16, 2026, no New Hampshire Supreme Court decision has taken up covenant enforcement or architectural review in a planned community.21
C. Active legislative debates
New Hampshire's recent housing legislation trains its attention on municipal zoning — ADUs and commercial-to-residential conversion — rather than on association authority. And the RSA 356-B:70 study committee was repealed effective January 1, 2025, which leaves no active state study of a comprehensive HOA statute.8
Section 5: National positioning and related coverage
New Hampshire sits with the condominium-statute, contract-first planned-community states. It has a detailed Condominium Act and a declarant-sales registration regime, but no comprehensive planned-community statute and no intermediate appellate court, so recorded declarations and common law steer covenant-governed communities. On ADUs, New Hampshire looks nothing like the HOA-preemption states such as California (Civ. Code § 4751) and Colorado (HB 24-1152); its ADU mandate works at the municipal-zoning level and does not, by its terms, override an association's covenants. For a multi-state operator, the practical rule holds: in New Hampshire the declaration is the operative authority on modifications, condominium sales run through the Department of Justice registration regime, and appeals go straight to the New Hampshire Supreme Court.
- New Hampshire Condominium Act, RSA 356-B (merged chapter text), NH General Court ↩
- RSA 292:8-m, Homeowners' Associations, NH General Court ↩
- RSA 674:72, Accessory Dwelling Units (condominium-conveyance bar; municipal scope), NH General Court ↩
- RSA 477:49–477:51, Solar Skyspace Easements, NH General Court ↩
- Federal overlays: FCC OTARD Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 (federal government source; see also fn14–fn16) ↩
- RSA 356-B:2, Application (supersession of RSA 479-A; September 10, 1977 cutoff), NH General Court ↩
- NH Department of Justice, Condominium and Subdivision Registration (RSA 356-B:50–68; RSA 356-C; Jus 1400) ↩
- RSA 356-B:70, Repealed by 2024, 322:5, VI, eff. Jan. 1, 2025, NH General Court ↩
- RSA 356-B:15, Compliance With Condominium Instruments, NH General Court ↩
- Lynch v. Town of Pelham (rejecting strict construction of restrictive covenants; intent as touchstone), NH Supreme Court ↩
- RSA 236:132–236:134, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (public stations; no HOA/covenant provision), NH General Court ↩
- RSA 356-B:47-a, Flag Display, NH General Court ↩
- Chapter 197, HB 577 (2025), final version amending RSA 674:71–674:73 (eff. July 1, 2025), NH General Court ↩
- FCC Over-the-Air Reception Devices (OTARD) Rule, 47 C.F.R. § 1.4000 ↩
- Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. § 3604(f)(3), U.S. Code (Office of the Law Revision Counsel) ↩
- ADA Title III (public accommodations), U.S. Department of Justice, ADA.gov ↩
- N.H. Admin. Code Jus 1400, Condominium Rules (declarant registration), NH General Court ↩
- New Hampshire Judicial Branch, Supreme Court Opinions (appeals to the Supreme Court; no intermediate appellate court) ↩
- RSA 356-B:37-c, Meetings of the Board of Directors and Committees (as amended 2024), NH General Court ↩
- AZNH Revocable Trust & a. v. Spinnaker Cove Yacht Club Association, Inc., No. 2021-0385 (Aug. 3, 2023), NH Supreme Court ↩
- New Hampshire Supreme Court, 2024 Opinions (Condominium Act decisions), NH Judicial Branch ↩