Momentum Continues in Congress for Manufactured Housing
With an overwhelming vote of 50-1, the Housing for the 21st Century Act (H.R. 6644) passed the House Financial Services Committee today. The comprehensive housing package, introduced by Chairman French Hill (AR-02), Ranking Member Maxine Waters (CA-43), Housing and Insurance Subcommittee Chairman Mike Flood (NE-01) and Subcommittee Ranking Member Emanuel Cleaver (MO-05) is aimed at expanding development capacity, lowering costs and simplifying regulations through initiatives that accelerate housing production and expand access to affordable homeownership and rental housing.
Included in the package is language reaffirming HUD’s primacy over other agencies—a critical step for regulatory certainty—as well as language to remove the permanent chassis requirement. As MHI has consistently noted, these changes will strengthen efficiencies inherent in manufactured housing and accelerate the availability of attainable homes for working families.
“Section 301 makes important changes for manufactured housing,” noted Rep. Flood. “It includes Congressman John Rose’s extremely important bill that would remove the requirement that a manufactured house be built with a permanent chassis. That one change is going to enable significant growth for manufactured housing. It will reduce the cost of manufactured homes. Additionally, Section 301 includes language that would ensure HUD is the primary regulator of all manufactured housing standards. Any other federal regulator that conducts rulemaking related to manufactured homes would need to get their changes cleared by HUD.”
Speaking about his chassis bill, Rep. John Rose (TN-06) said, “Removing the permanent chassis requirement for manufactured homes will lower construction costs, unlock modern design flexibility, and open far more locations for quality, affordable housing.”
A number of other provisions in the legislation expand financing and remove local barriers to manufactured housing such as Section 302’s directive for the Federal Housing Authority to evaluate options for incentivizing small-dollar mortgages. Other elements of the package encourage states and localities to modernize zoning and land-use policies, which too often block manufactured housing despite federal preemption.
The Housing for the 21st Century Act now awaits consideration by the full House of Representatives.
To read the full bill, H.R. 6644, click here.
Article property of Manufactured Housing Institute. To view more information on MHI, visit their website here.
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