| Max size | 900 sq ftconfirmed with the town |
|---|---|
| Min size | 650 sq ftconfirmed with the town |
| Bedrooms | Up to 2confirmed with the town |
| Type | Attached or detachedgarage conversions expressly allowed |
| Parking | 1 spot onsiteconfirmed with the town |
| Owner-occupancy | Requiredin either the ADU or the primary home |
| Short-term rental | Not statedordinance read was truncated |
| Utility connection | Tie into the existing electrical connection or choose a separate metersame statewide |
The July 2025 state law (RSA 674:71–73) overrides local ordinance language that conflicts with it — even language a town still has posted. Here's what that means in Kensington:
State law says Kensington can only hold your ADU to the same look-and-feel standards it holds an ordinary house to, not stricter ones. Whether a blanket 'must look subordinate' rule crosses that line is an attorney call — the same open question that comes up in other NH towns with similar design-continuity clauses.
State law fills the silence here: the choice of on-site vs. a legally dedicated off-site spot is yours, not the town's to dictate. Kensington's ordinance requires one space but doesn't say where it must go.
CONFIRMED WITH THE TOWN (July 29,2026) — ADUs allowed: 1; maximum size 900 sq ft; minimum size 650 sq ft; up to 2 bedrooms; impact fees: No; parking: 1 spot onsite; detached-unit distance rule: No regs for a min or max distance from existing structure; setbacks: 25' Feet all around, no largest district whole town is all residential with a 2 acre minimum and 200ft of frontage. Town contact: Gino Rignoli - Building inspector.
Very minimal wording from the town on certain ordinances surounding ADUs, As per the BI the town is activally working on and changing these ordinances so make sure you call and check with any questions and concers as a rule or ordinance may have changed recently
Will let you build in the front yard depending on acerage, Smoke alarms do not need to be tied to the main house, Town had people try to use ADUs for STR and although there is no current ordinace on it is frowned upon and look forward to this being changed to a hard no in the future.
Kensington's ADU ordinance (Zoning §3.2.3) was substantially rewritten and adopted at Town Meeting on March 6, 2026 — well after the July 1, 2025 state law (RSA 674:71-73 as amended by HB 577) took effect — and the rewrite closes the town's single biggest gap: ADUs no longer require a Conditional Use Permit or a Planning Board hearing. They're now permitted by right with nothing more than a building permit application, and the 21-day advance-of-planning-board-meeting filing window that used to apply is gone. The ordinance also now directly quotes the state statute's language guaranteeing that an existing detached structure (like a garage) can be converted into an ADU even if it doesn't meet current setback or lot-coverage rules. Size must be between 650 and 900 sq ft of living area per the adopted ordinance text (town staff have verbally cited a 950 sq ft ceiling — a discrepancy that needs confirmation, though either number is within what state law allows), two bedrooms max, owner-occupancy required in either unit (a rule towns may lawfully impose), and only one extra off-street parking space (down from two under the old rules). Two things still merit scrutiny against the state floor: (1) a clause requiring the ADU to 'appear subordinate to the principal dwelling unit in design and placement' could be read as an aesthetic standard stricter than what's applied to an ordinary house — an attorney call; and (2) the ordinance doesn't say whether the required parking space can be located off-site, which state law guarantees is the owner's choice. Separately — a data-quality flag, not a legal one — some figures quoted verbally by town staff in mid-2026 don't match the written ordinance: a 100 ft front setback (which matches the town's separate Commercial/Industrial district requirement, not the RA district's written 25 ft standard), a 'no parking restrictions' statement (vs. the ordinance's clear 1-space requirement), and a 950 sq ft max size (vs. the ordinance's literal 900 sq ft). Re-confirm these with the town before relying on them. See conflicts[] for the two live state-law questions and resolved_by_town[] for what Kensington already fixed.
Get a free personalized report for your address in Kensington — including where the 2025 law works in your favor.
Get My Free Kensington ADU Report →House Bill 577 (2025) amended RSA 674:72, effective July 1, 2025. Wherever Kensington's ordinance is stricter than this floor, the state law controls. Read the full NH ADU law explainer →
Yes — Kensington allows one accessory dwelling unit (attached or detached) by right, by building permit only, in its Residential/Agricultural (RA) District. Under RSA 674:72 (as amended effective July 1, 2025), one accessory dwelling unit — attached or detached — is allowed by right on single-family lots statewide.
900 sq ft — confirmed with the town. State law doesn't let any town cap ADU size below 750 sq ft.
Attached or detached (garage conversions expressly allowed). Since July 1, 2025, state law allows detached ADUs by right statewide — town provisions that prohibited them are superseded.
1 spot onsite — confirmed with the town. State law caps what any town can require at one additional space, located on- or off-site at the owner's choice.
Required — in either the ADU or the primary home. Where owner-occupancy is required, state law lets the owner choose which unit to live in.