Information for New Homeowners

Welcome New Durham Resident!

It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Town of Durham. To help you become better acquainted with our community and the operation of our Town government, we offer the following information and resources below and to the right to assist you in becoming settled.  For a full Town Directory, please see document at the bottom.

The Durham “Friday Updates.” Each week, the Town's various departments, boards, and committees—as well as citizens and Durham organizations —forward informational pieces to the Administrator's Office to include in the weekly electronic newsletter called the “Friday Updates.” If you are interested in receiving this free service, you may go to the Town home page at https://www.ci.durham.nh.us/, click on "Friday Updates" and then input your name and email address and click on "Sign Up for Friday Updates."  We hope that you will decide to join the over 4,000 Durham residents who already subscribe to this service, and that you will find its contents to be informative and useful.

Oyster River Cooperative School District.  The Town of Durham belongs to a cooperative school district, called the Oyster River Cooperative School District, which services the communities of Durham, Lee, and Madbury. The ORCSD consistently ranks among the best in New Hampshire. Durham boasts separate modern elementary, middle, junior high, and high school facilities that provide a full range of academic, athletic, and technical studies. If you have school-aged children, you may be interested in visiting the school district’s web site at https://www.orcsd.org/ to learn more about this first-rate public school system.

University of New Hampshire. Durham is home to the University of New Hampshire (UNH). UNH is a vibrant place: a land, sea, and space-grant university where undergraduate and graduate students engage in daily discovery and the intellectual excitement of doing research with their faculty mentors. UNH programs are also available to members of the community for those interested in exploring new areas of interest or expanding their professional training. The richness of this academic environment rewards not only attending students, but Durham residents and visitors as well. To learn more about this impressive institution, visit the UNH web site at https://www.unh.edu/.

Durham Parks and Recreation.  Durham Parks and Recreation offers a wide range of quality programs, parks, and facilities that encourage all community members to participate in healthy, fun, and enriching activities.  Together, with the residents of Durham, they celebrate the essential role public recreation plays in fostering a cohesive and vibrant community.  To learn more about the programs that the Durham Parks and Recreation offers, visit their website HERE. 

Rental Properties.  As a University community, the increasing prevalence of college students living within and amongst Durham’s traditional residential neighborhoods has caused concern for the community revolving around quality of life issues including noise, trash, parking, late night parties, and the condition of single-family, non-owner occupied properties.  To address this challenge, the Town has intensified enforcement of its zoning regulations and moved forward with the review, and in some cases enactment, of new ordinances.  Concerns can be reported to the Code Enforcement Department at (603) 868-8064.  If you are currently renting your property, or intend to rent at any time in the future, we encourage you to become familiar with all pertinent regulations by viewing a copy of our “Information for Owners of Rental Units/Properties” located on our web site HERE.