How Manufactured Housing Can Fill Affordable Housing Gaps [housingmatters.urban.org]

By Aaron Shroyer, Housing Matters, July 8, 2020

Manufactured housing is one of the most affordable homeownership options available and is one potential solution to the nation’s affordable housing crisis. The per square foot cost of producing a manufactured home is less than half the cost of constructing comparable stick-built, single-family detached homes because of greater supply-chain flexibility, regulatory consistency, and lower on-site labor costs. This puts manufactured-housing developers in a position to close local affordable housing gaps more quickly than traditional home builders, yet planners often underestimate manufactured housing’s potential for alleviating affordable housing supply shortages.

We spoke with Casey Dawkins, a professor of urban studies and planning at the University of Maryland and a research associate at the National Center for Smart Growth, about existing barriers to manufactured housing and how communities and states can overcome these restrictions.

Many communities strictly regulate the location of manufactured housing. What are some examples of these regulations, their origins, and their impacts?

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