Program
details

Gooch
explained
that
MHI
is
encouraged
by
greater
government
involvement
in
the
manufactured
housing
sector
—
especially
considering
the
affordability
challenges
that
persist
nationwide.

“This
is
a
commercial
loan
program.
It’s
very
different
from
Title
I,
which
helps
people
living
in
a
community
or
wanting
to
live
anywhere
by
taking
a
loan
on
the
home
as
a
personal
property
loan,
making
it
more
consumer
facing
than
this
program,”
Gooch
said
in
an
interview
with

HousingWire.
“That’s
why
I
find
it
interesting.
About
30%
of
our
houses
today
go
into
what
we
call
land-lease
communities,
manufactured
housing
communities,
where
individuals
lease
the
land
and
own
their
house.”

The
new
program
helps
provide
a
source
of
capital
for
the
purchase
of
such
communities,
Gooch
explained.
While
this
wasn’t
an
“area
MHI
considered
critical
for
FHA
engagement,”
Gooch
said,
she
would
like
to
see
additional
support
from
FHA
that
would
allow
more
people
to
purchase
manufactured
homes.

“Fannie
Mae
and


Freddie


Mac’s
loan
volumes
on
a
land
home
basis
aren’t
where
we
would
think
they
should
be.
They
don’t
have
a
personal
property
loan
program
at
all,”
she
explained.
“We’ve
been
calling
for
more
consumer
support
from
the
government.
That
said,
it’s
good
that
policymakers
are
finally
recognizing
the
value
of
manufactured
housing
and
considering
ways
to
support
it.
We’re
pleased
that
attention
is
being
paid
to
this
issue.”

Alienation
of
private
partners?

MHI’s
issues
tied
to
the
government’s
announcement
of
the
new
program
stem
from
the
way
private
interests
are
characterized,
Gooch
said.
The
way
it
was
framed
by
FHA
focused
mainly
on
mission-driven
entities,
which
Gooch
said
could
be
construed
negatively
by
private
entities
that
MHI
views
as
critical
partners
in
making
manufactured
housing
more
available.

“They
talked
about
trying
to
provide
an
alternative
for
mission-driven
entities
to
finance
and
purchase
these
communities,
so
it
was
very
negative
in
their
discussion,”
Gooch
said.
“I
actually
have
asked
HUD
to
moderate
the
way
they
are
talking
about
this,
because
when
I
talk
to
them,
they
assure
me
this
was
just
a
first
step
to
include
mission-driven
and
government
entities,
and
it
wasn’t
intended
to
exclude
private
owners.”

In
HUD’s
original
announcement,
the
department
said
that
the
program
“provides
an
alternative
to
purchase
of
these
communities
by
private
equity
funds
and
similar
financial
interests,
whose
track
record
reportedly
includes
unaffordable
rent
increases,
failure
to
invest
in
community
infrastructure,
and
regulations
that
don’t
respect
the
community’s
culture.”

But
MHI
“wholeheartedly
rejects”
this
characterization
of
the
dynamic
playing
out
in
manufactured
housing
communities,
Gooch
explained.

“We
think
that
for
an
administration
that
needs
to
lean
in
on
affordable
housing
in
America,
comments
like
that
are
not
helpful,”
she
said.
“If
they
truly
want
to
move
the
needle
toward
quality
affordable
homeownership
options,
they
need
to
support
the
housing
providers
that
exist
in
America
today,
and
that
includes
the
owners
and
operators
of
land-lease
communities.”

Gooch
said
that
MHI
research
indicates
a
high
level
of
satisfaction
among
residents
of
land-lease
communities,
and
she
contends
that
rent
increases
—
while
present
—
are
not
as
severe
as
they
are
in
other
segments
of
the
housing
market.

“Consumers
acknowledge
that
their
rent
has
gone
up
but
not
as
much
as
comparable
housing
options
in
their
area,”
she
said.
“We
have
strong
information
showing
that
consumers
love
living
in
these
communities.”

Infrastructure
assistance

Gooch
said
that
MHI
welcomes
the
Biden
administration’s
engagement
on
issues
related
to
aging
infrastructure
in
land-lease
communities,
which
she
calls
“very
important.”

“There
haven’t
been
many
new
developments
in
the
land-lease
community
space,
largely
due
to
zoning
issues,”
she
explained.
“Planners
are
reluctant
to
allow
a
‘trailer
park,’
but
we
all
know
that’s
not
what
we’re
doing
today.
We’re
producing
quality
houses
that
are
within
reach
in
terms
of
attainability
and
income,
offering
a
quality
lifestyle
at
land-lease
communities.”

Manufactured
housing
standards
have
seen
a
lot
of
evolution
in
recent
years
but
remain
somewhat
stigmatized
and
demonstrably
underutilized.
According
to

a
2023
report
from
the

Niskanen
Center,
a
D.C.-based
think
tank,
the
stigma
could
be
seen
as
a
contributor
to
the
underutilization.

“Today’s
manufactured
homes
are
not
your
grandma’s
vacation
trailer
or
1970s-era
mobile
home,”
the
report
said.
“Modern
manufactured
homes
have
strict
standards
for
structural
integrity,
material
durability,
and
safety.”

Indoor
construction
on
an
assembly
line
helps
to
increase
the
efficiency
of
the
manufacturing
process
compared
with
site-built
homes,
and
manufactured
housing
can
“offer
the
factory-floor
automation
and
steady
productivity
growth
that
we
expect
from
other
mass-produced
goods
to
bring
down
costs
and
improve
quality
over
time,”
the
report
explained.

As
of
the
report’s
publication,
8.4
million
Americans
live
in
a
manufactured
home.
This
reality
should
be
embraced
by
the
government,
Gooch
said.

“Many
refer
to
us
as
naturally
occurring
affordable
housing,
and
the
administration
should
be
looking
at
these
housing
providers
and
saying,
‘Thank
you
for
your
efforts,’”
she
said.

Prior
efforts,
tone
of
announcement

Congressional
leaders,
including
former
Rep.
David
Price
of
North
Carolina,

explained
at
a
hearing
in
2022
that
there
could
be
a
government
role
for
manufactured
housing
financing.
Price
argued
that
eligibility
should
be
broad,
especially
to
allow
for
investment
in
the
underlying
infrastructure
and
robust
participation
by
investors
in
the
manufactured
housing
space.

“When
HUD
came
out
with
the
announcement
for
the

Preservation
and
Reinvestment
Initiative
for
Community
Enhancement
(PRICE)
program,
the
eligibility
was
again
limited,
even
though
Congressman
Price
was
known
to
say
you
cannot
make
this
work
if
you
only
limit
it
to
nonprofits,”
Gooch
said. 

“So,
HUD
is
not
listening.
[…]
The
best
thing
to
do
is
look
at
the
Low-Income
Housing
Tax
Credit
Program
and
say
to
for-profits,
‘We
are
going
to
support
you
in
keeping
this
up
to
date
and
keeping
your
housing
modernized,
but
you
are
going
to
agree
to
affordability
characteristics
as
part
of
that.’”

It
was
particularly
striking,
Gooch
said,
to
observe
this
rhetoric
from
HUD
officials
while
they
stood
in
front
of
a
number
of
MHI-backed
homes.

“This
administration
talks
a
lot
about
the
importance
of
manufactured
housing,
but
for
this
announcement
to
be
made
in
front
of
our
houses
on
the
National
Mall,
when
those
houses
are
all
going
to
land-lease
communities,
was
really
disappointing
to
us,”
she
said.
“They
weren’t
a
good
partner
for
us
in
that.”